Atletico Osasuna 1 (Webo 70)Rangers 0
Attendance 19,123
A near-capacity crowd in the Estadio Reyna Navarra of
19,123 included a massive travelling Light Blue
contingent.
Manager Walter Smith made one enforced change from
Sunday with Gavin Rae replacing the suspended Barry
Ferguson whilst Osasuna made no fewer than seven
changes from Ibrox.
There had been a carnival atmosphere throughout the
day in the city with both sets of fans mixing freely
and amicably - but sadly numerous deranged individuals
amongst the home support felt it necessary to wear
Celtic tops and wave Irish Tricolours inside the
stadium.
It was the home side who were quickest out of the
traps with Webo releasing Romeo through on goal in the
first minute only for the striker to shoot wide.
Three minutes later Juanlu´s 25-yard free-kick
whistled over, but Rangers survived the early pressure
and began to carry the play to their opponents´ goal,
Nacho Novo heading over in twelve minutes.
Osasuna continued to have by far the bulk of the
pressure however, missing a golden opportunity to open
the scoring on the half-hour mark when Juanlu met a
Josetxo free-kick right in front of goal only to slice
over the bar.
Rangers finished the half strongly - David Weir´s
header from Charlie Adam´s corner being held by home
goalkeeper Ricardo in forty minutes, then three
minutes later a much better chance saw Adam head over
Kevin Thomson´s free-kick.
It had been a half of few chances, but it was all too
clear that, as Rangers had to score to survive, they
would have to take advantage of any that came their
way.
Adam again came close sixty seconds after the restart
when his thirty-yard free-kick flashed over, but the
best chance so far arrived three minutes later when
Rae was clean through only for hesitation to prove
fatal - his shot when it finally came being blocked.
Chris Burke and Dado Prso replaced Thomson and Sebo
respectively in 52 and 63 minutes - but the deadlock
was broken in seventy minutes when Ian Murray lost the
ball in the air, David Lopez sending over a cross from
the right that David Weir missed completely, allowing
Webo to net at the far post with Allan McGregor found
wanting.
Sixty seconds later Kris Boyd replaced Rae, but
another clear chance was squandered in 75 minutes when
a long McGregor free-kick soared deep into the Osasuna
area, Ugo Ehiogu being inches away from connecting
before Ricardo gathered.
Time ran out on Rangers however - and at the final
whistle the home fans celebrated their progress to the
last eight.
Afterwards a frustrated Walter Smith reflected:
"It was disappointing to go out, but we paid the price
for a poor first leg. Overall we never created enough
chances. We were always under pressure to score here,
but lost the tie at home."
A jubilant Jose Angel Ziganda, Osasuna Coach,
summarised:
"We played well in both games. We were focused and
confident. This was our best performance of the
season. Rangers are a powerful team - they have
amazing fans as was proved here in Pamplona."
The Rangers fans were at times under attack from the
riot police duriong the game, who waded in with their
batons without any provocation whatsoever. Afterwards
Lawrence McIntyre announced:
"We will be making a formal protest to UEFA over the
way our fans were treated - and over the lack of
segregation at the ground. This was classified as a
high-risk fixture, yet Osasuna openly sold tickets to
anybody."
ATLETICO OSASUNA Ricardo; Javier Flavo, Cruchaga,
Josetxo, Corrales; Azquicueta (David Lopez 66), Punal,
Nekounam, Juanlu (Juanfran 81); Romeo (Raul Garcia
73), Webo
UNUSED SUBS Elia, Cueclar, Soldado, Munoz
RANGERS McGregor; Hutton, Weir, Ehiogu, Murray; Novo,
Hemdani, Thomson (Burke 52), Rae (Boyd 71), Adam; Sebo
(Prso 63)
UNUSED SUBS Klos, Sionko, Svensson, McMillan
REFEREE Claus Larsen (Denmark)