Rangers demolished by PSV in UEFA Champions League exit, FC Copenhagen and Antwerp through

Rangers were crushed 5-1 by PSV to end their UEFA Champions League participation as they failed to qualify for the group stages.

After appearing in the group stages of the tournament for the first time in over a decade last season, Scottish side Rangers were level at 2-2 after their first leg game at Ibrox.

Ismael Saibari put Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men ahead just after the half hour mark and with the end of the first half closing in, the Dutch team had enjoyed more than 80% of possession and there seemed little chance of a comeback for Rangers unless there was a radical change in the game.

Saibari was the star of the game and he made it two in the second half with a fantastic team goal.

Jordan Teze curled a great pass to the back post to the experienced forward Luuk de Jong, who played the ball back across goal allowing Saibari to finish from close range. He almost had a hat-trick when his one-two worked space on the edge of the box, his shot bringing a good stop from Jack Butland.

That sparked Rangers into life and there were close calls from Connor Goldson, Rabbi Matondo and Cifuentes.

James Tavernier then gave them help when Todd Cantwell’s pass to Sam Lammers sent the ball to the back post for Tavernier to slide one home, only for a poorly marked De Jong to hit back almost immediately to make it 5-3 on aggregate and 3-1 on the night, and Joey Veerman made it 4-1 with a shot to the far corner, before a calamitous Connor Goldson own goal summed up an evening of poor defending to complete the rout.

Rangers boss Michael Baele told TNT Sports: "Hugely disappointed with the result. Over the two legs, we struggled to handle Luuk de Jong and Ibrahim Sangare. The buck stops with me.

"It's early in this team's time. [PSV] are a very good team but that doesn't take away from the disappointment. The difference between the two teams was quality for sure.

"We'll wait and see what happens with the [Europa League] draw. An apology to our fans that came across."

Meanwhile, FC Copenhagen reached the group stages after securing a 2-1 aggregate victory over Rakow Czestochowa.

The Polish side trailed 1-0 after the first leg and fell behind on 35 minutes to a fantastic Denis Vavro strike in Denmark, with the defender's volley from 35 yards making the breakthrough.

Lukasz Zwolinski's late goal for Rakow was merely a consolation.

AEK Athens were 1-0 down after the first leg in Belgium, with Antwerp able to keep the stalemate intact in the first half.

That deficit doubled when Gyrano Kerk scored on 73 minutes and although Sergio Araujo's stoppage-time equaliser gave the Greek side slim hope, Michel-Ange Balikwisha's 95th minute counter-attacking goal made sure of Antwerp's progression, 3-1 on aggregate.

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