tonitghts goalless draw with Red Star in Belgrade, the
single strike by Nacho Novo at Ibrox ultimately
proving decisive.
The Stadion Red Star, or Maracana, is truly one of the
great European arenas. Atmospheric, intimidating, full
of passion and hostility, and tonight, even after the
final whistle, the home fans were still singing,
although there was one sad, deranged character
wearing, for reasons known only to himself, a Celtic
top.
The Slavs made two changes from Ibrox with Igor
Bursanovic and Dusan Basra replacing Grzegonz
Bronowicki and Milanko Rascovic whilst Rangers Manager
Walter Smithz made three changes from Kilmarnock with
Brahim Hemdani, Lee McCulloch and Jean-Claude
Darcheville coming in for DaMarcus Beasley, Kris Boyd
and Daniel Cousin.
Temparatures during the day had reached 35C, and even
at kick-off the heat and humidity was still intense as
Rangers took the field wearing all-blue.
In such an intimidating stadium, the away team should
always seek to open in a calm, composed manner hoping
to dilute the crowd noise, yet within 54 seconds a
slip by Carlos Cuellar allowed Burzanovic through on
goal, only for Allan McGregor to block his shot.
The home side were all out for an early goal, and in
eight minutes Burzanovic released Dusan Andelkovic
down the left, his cross flashing across the face of
goal without any takers.
Rangers survived that frenetic opening, but Red Star
kept pressing and McGregor again came to the rescue on
the halfhour mark when he parried a Burzanovic shot
from a Nenad Milijas pass.
With the interval fast approaching, McGregor again
kept his goal intact, Burzanovic turning on an
Andelkovic throw-in only for the Scots goalkeeper to
turn his effort wide.
On the cusp of the interval the Ibrox men finally had
an effort on target, a Carlos Cuellar header from a
Barry Ferguson free kick being held bz Slav goalkeeper
Ivan Randelovic.
One away goal would surely kill the tie stone dead,
and Darcheville was inches away from securing that
priceless commodity in 56 minutes, bursting through on
a Ferguson pass.
Seven minutes later McCulloch cut inside from a Sasa
Papac ball, only to see his twenty yard shot turned
wide by Randelovic.
If Rangers were now creating more chances, Red Star
were still dangerous, Ognjen Koroman's powerful 25
yard drive being turned over by McGregor midway
through the second half.
Daniel Cousin replaced Darcheville in seventy minutes,
and eight minutes later Beasley was roundly booed when
he substituted for Steven Whittaker, but Rangers were
inching ever closer to the Holy Grail.
McCulloch was zellow carded for timewasting in the
84th minute, a booking that will keep him out of the
first Champions League group fixture.
Rangers coolly played out time, even allowing for an
extra four minutes that the Portuguese Referee added
on, and the final whistle sounded on a notable
achievement bz the Light Blues.
RED STAR BELGRADE Randelovic, Basta, Gueye, Tutoric,
Andelkovic, Koroman, Castillo, Da Silva Lukas, Milijas
(Raskovic 73), Burzanovic (Barcos 70), Dordevic
RANGERS McGregor, Hutton, Weir, Cuellar, Papac,
Whittaker (Beasley 78), Ferguson, Hemdani, Thomson,
McCulloch, Darcheville (Cousin 70)
Attendance 50,000