Rangers edge Champions League opener after last season's horror show

Rangers gained a narrow advantage in their Champions League opener on Wednesday as the Scottish side returned to Europe where last season they suffered six humbling defeats.

Rangers edged out Servette of Switzerland 2-1 in the first leg of their final qualifying round tie at Ibrox.

The Swiss may be slight favourites to progress to the play-off round when the two sides clash in the second leg next Tuesday, but at least Rangers went some way to erasing the pain of their last continental adventure.

After reaching the 2022/23 group stage after a 12-year absence, they slumped to defeats, home and away, to Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax.

Having lost their Scottish Premiership season opener 1-0 to unheralded Kilmarnock at the weekend, they were 2-0 up on Servette inside 15 minutes on Tuesday.

Captain James Tavernier scored a penalty in the sixth minute before striker Cyriel Dessers knocked in a second eight minutes later for his first Rangers goal.

Graham Hansen exposes fractures with Norway on brink of World Cup exit

Football

$Graham Hansen exposes fractures with Norway on brink of World Cup exit$

Just before half-time, however, Servette striker Chris Bedia reduced the deficit from the penalty spot after VAR intervened to flag up a Dessers handball.

Servette's David Douline, who conceded the penalty for a foul on Todd Cantwell, was sent off in the 59th minute for picking up the second of two yellow cards.

"We'll have to take the win and put in a good performance next week. We were always going to have to do that," Rangers boss Michael Beale told the BBC.

"It was a fantastic start. We played with real energy, we ran forward, gave a lot to the game and created so many chances."

Thirty years after they were crowned European champions for the first and only time, Marseille slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Panathinaikos.

Brazilian Bernard scored the winner in the 83rd minute from a pass by Ioannis Papadimitrou.

"We haven't played many European matches but this is undoubtedly the most successful," said Panathinaikos coach Ivan Jovanovic.

'Below the level'

The French side had been reduced to 10 men following a 65th-minute red card for Geoffrey Kondogbia, one of three summer signings on show on Wednesday along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ismaila Sarr.

"We were below the level we hoped for, especially in the attack," said Marseille coach Marcelino.

"That's how it is. We are still building, we had very little time to work. That's not an excuse but it's the reality."

The night's other tie saw Maccabi Haifa of Israel come away from Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia with a 2-1 win.

All three goals came inside the first 15 minutes with Diaa Sabia grabbing the winner after Haitian international Frantzdy Pierrot's fifth-minute opener for the Israeli side had been cancelled out by Juraj Kucka.

On Tuesday, KI Klaksvik of the Faroe Islands defeated Norway's Molde 2-1 to stay in the hunt for an improbable spot in the group stage.

The Faroese champions fell behind to a goal from ex-Manchester United youngster Magnus Wolff Eikrem in Torshavn before Arni Frederiksberg scored twice to give Klaksvik the edge going into next week's return leg.

Klaksvik, based in a town which boasts just 5,000 inhabitants, are already guaranteed to become the first Faroese club to secure a place in the group stage of a European competition.

They knocked out Swedish champions BK Hacken on penalties in the second round last week to assure themselves of at least a spot in the Conference League.

Former European champions PSV Eindhoven are well positioned to advance to the play-off round after thrashing Austria's Sturm Graz 4-1 to continue their good start under new coach Peter Bosz.

UEFA postponed Tuesday's match between AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb after a Greek supporter was fatally stabbed during a brawl near Athens between rival fans.