It was a European night under the lights at Ibrox to forget for Rangers as they look for positivity elsewhere on matchday two.
The Europa League got off to the perfect start last midweek with a dominant win over Malmo in Sweden to get three points on the board but a return home ended in disappointment as Lyon thrashed Philippe Clement’s men 4-1 in front of a packed out crowd in Govan. Six games are left for the Light Blues with four of their rivals picking up victories on Thursday night while the two other games ended in a share of the spoils. Here, Record Sport rounds up the results of Rangers’ remaining opponents.
FCSB (home October 24)
Next up for Rangers is another home game with FCSB. They’ve started their own Europa League campaign perfectly and backed up their matchday one win over RFS with an impressive away triumph at PAOK. The visitors netted in the eighth minute of added time in the first half through Daniel Bîrligea and found themselves down to ten men after just 56 minutes. But they managed to hold on to claim what could prove a priceless result. They will arrive in Govan full of confidence.
Olympiacos (away November 7)
It was an old foe familiar to Rangers on matchday two for Olympiacos in the shape of Braga. And the Greek giants made light work of the Portuguese side. They hit the visitors for three in a dominant win on home soil. An Ayoub El Kaabi double and a strike from Santiago Hezze got Olympiacos off the mark in the competition after an opening defeat on the road at Lyon. That match ended 2-0 in France.
Nice (away November 28)
Like Rangers, it was a 4-1 hammering for Nice on Thursday night. The only difference being the Ligue 1 outfit were on the road in Rome to face Lazio. The Serie A side as a result of the thumping win hold top spot in the league phase after two games. Valentín Castellanos bagged a double alongside solo strikes from veteran Pedro and Mattia Zaccagni. Jeremie Boga grabbed Nice’s goal to bring them back into the game at 2-1 before half-time. But in the end it proved nothing more than a consolation effort.
Tottenham (home December 12)
It’s two from two for former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou and his troops and a fifth win on the bounce to lift that early season pressure that was on the Spurs boss in North London. He rotated his squad and was still able to pick up all three points on the road at Ferencvaros thanks to goals from Pape Matar Sarr and the in-form Brennan Johnson.
Manchester United (away January 23)
The pressure continues to mount on Erik ten Hag who watched his side storm to a two-goal advantage at Porto to them find themselves trailing 3-2 on the night before they rescued a point with a last-gasp leveller from Harry Maguire. The draw follows up a hammering by Spurs in the EPL and an opening Europa League draw at home to Twente with Sam Lammers the hero for the Dutch side that night at Old Trafford. The microscope is firmly on the Dutchman with Aston Villa away up next.
Union Saint-Gilloise (home January 30)
Rangers are no strangers to Union Saint-Gilloise after a Champions League qualifying clash back in August 2022. A defeat on the road was followed up by a 3-0 home win to advance and the Ibrox faithful will take more of that on matchday eight. But that is a while off with plenty football to come before then. Union opened up with a narrow defeat to Fenerbahce on the road and they’ve now got off the mark points wise – but they drew a blank at home to Bodø/Glimt.