Rangers have been knocked out of the UEFA Conference League after falling 4-3 on penalties to Czech outfit Jablonec at the Stadion Strelnice this evening.
Derek McInnes’ side held a slender 1-0 advantage from last week’s first leg at Ibrox, but the tie finished level at 1-1 on aggregate after a dismal display in the Czech Republic.
The shootout proved agonising for the Glasgow club. Goalkeeper Ivor Pandur did his part by keeping out Filip Zorvan’s effort, but Findlay Curtis blazed his penalty over the crossbar and James Penrice was denied by Jablonec stopper Jan Hanus.
Jan Chramosta then stepped up to convert the winning spot-kick, sending Rangers tumbling out of European competition for the second time this season.
Rangers suffered penalty heartbreak against Czech outfit Jablonec at the Stadion Strelnice this evening
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McInnes’ team produced a lifeless showing devoid of any creative spark throughout the match.
The manager attempted to shake things up at the interval, introducing captain Lawrence Shankland, Connor Barron and Curtis while reshaping his side’s formation, but the alterations made little difference.
Jablonec midfielder Vakhtang Tchanturishvili got the goal the hosts deserved on 73 minutes, unleashing a powerful strike across Pandur after a piece of individual brilliance inside the box. The goal drew the aggregate score level and took the contest into extra time.
Shankland had earlier squandered a gilt-edged opportunity, heading wide from a corner when completely unmarked. The additional 30 minutes produced nothing of note before the fateful penalty shootout.
Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd delivered a withering assessment of the result. “Embarrassing. I don’t know where this leaves Derek McInnes as manager,” Boyd said.
The Ibrox club’s continental campaign has been a catalogue of failure. McInnes’ extensive summer rebuild has yet to bear fruit, with this elimination following an earlier exit from the Europa League qualifying rounds at the hands of Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Derek McInnes was already under pressure before kick-off despite only becoming Rangers boss in the summer
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Having now been dumped out of two separate European competitions, serious questions hang over the manager and a squad that appears unable to compete at this level.
Against a modest Czech side who were there for the taking, Rangers looked a team miles from where they need to be, and the scale of the reconstruction job facing McInnes appears greater than ever.
Motherwell’s European journey also came to a painful end on Thursday evening, as the Steelmen were thrashed 4-1 by Freiburg in Germany to bow out 7-2 on aggregate.
Stuart Kettlewell’s side were undone by another costly dismissal. Jake Girdwood-Reich was sent off just before the hour mark, mirroring the first-leg red card shown to Martin Moormann that had contributed to a 3-1 defeat at Fir Park.
Emmanuel Longelo had briefly given Motherwell hope by equalising after a howler from Freiburg goalkeeper Mio Backhaus, cancelling out Derry Scherhant’s early opener.
However, two goals from set pieces arrived in quick succession following the sending off, before Keisuke Goto added a late fourth to complete a comprehensive victory for the Europa League finalists.
