An excellent night for Rangers, then – and those comments from Kent about feeling more relaxed seem particularly interesting. Can that casting-off of the shackles take them all the way? Thanks for all your company tonight; I’ll leave you with the Champions League action that’s coming right up, and we’ll have a match report from this one up very soon:
Updated
Ryan Jack: “Everyone’s been having a dig at us and rightly so, the mentality of the group has been questioned but hopefully that’s something to build on this season. To a man we bought into the gameplan and it got us a result.”
Ryan Kent: “The boys know recently it’s not been good enough. We demand more of ourselves, we went out there and showed what we are capable of doing. I missed an easy opportunity in the first half, the goal is a bonus, the fact we’ve got through is special for the football club. We’re the underdogs in this competition, there’s less tension and expectation in our play so we play freely. Tonight we got what we deserved.”
There was the fear that Rangers would be punished for those first-half misses, especially Hagi’s from the spot. But they defended brilliantly against a team that, given its recent form and its first-leg performance, suffered from a curious lack of ideas. Rangers always held a threat on the break and, when Kent finished coolly, the job was done.
Full-time – Braga 0-1 Rangers (Rangers win 4-2 on aggregate)
Rangers have that elusive away win in Europe and their place in the last 16! A famous night, a bit of a breakthrough in their modern history, and a richly deserved one at that! Kent scored the winner and, despite only seeing a third of the possession, Rangers really could have scored more.
90+2 min: Ojo almost adds a cherry on top by hitting an early strike that the impressive Matheus, his side’s best performer, turns round the post.
90+1 min: We’ll have four added minutes, as Goldson again defends consummately from a Braga corner.
89 min: Esgaio agriculturally dumps Ojo over after a lengthy spell of Braga pressure is repelled. He’s booked. The job is just about done ...
88 min: Braga earn yet another flag kick. Reckon they have to score here! The ball reaches Galeno at the back stick but he slips and miscues as he tries to volley past McGregor, rather summing up Braga’s night.
86 min: Now it’s a bit of a barrage of Braga crosses, but Goldson and Edmundson have been towers of strength in there.
84 min: Another Braga corner, via fine tracking back from Kent, but they can’t muster the goal that they need very urgently now.
82 min: Rangers are getting nearer and nearer to seeing this out in some comfort. The away fans are, as you’d expect, in excellent voice.
80 min: Barisic trips Trincao as he looks to scuttle towards the box on the right – or more accurately, Trincao buys himself a free-kick with a fairly egregious dive. Rough justice if Braga score here ... and they don’t, because Paulinho miscues a header when well placed and the ball zooms over.
78 min: Goal disallowed! Goldson heads a right-sided corner against the post, which would have been fine – in fact it might well be another superb save from Matheus – but Arfield is a couple of yards offside as he snaffles the rebound. Now Ojo comes on for Kamberi.
76 min: “Doesn’t Braga’s ground feature a huge slab of natural granite at one end? You might say the home team find themselves between a rock and the hard place of elimination from the Europa League,” suggests Peter Oh.
75 min: Rangers have a throw-in near the Braga byline and it is fair to say they aren’t in a rush now.
72 min: Braga are certainly committing men forward now. Arfield concedes a sloppy corner and Rangers don’t want to make life difficult here. They are given a huge let-off, as it happens, because they only half-clear and Esgao’s cross is headed against the outside of the post by Novais when he really should score. Gerrard goes for extra legs now, by bringing on Aribo for the class act Hagi.
Updated
69 min: Goldson deals with a good Trincao ball from the right, as fears I’ve applied the kiss of death heighten.
67 min: It is, as things stand, really hard to see Braga overturning this. They have been poor and really threatened very little.
65 min: The quiet Trincao bobbles a long-range shot wide when he had better options. One more change for Braga, the defender Carmo on and Barcelona loanee Abel Ruiz off. It’s a patchwork defence for them now as they go for broke. Rangers earn a corner in the meantime, but it comes to nought.
63 min: That’s 4-2 on aggregate, of course, so Braga must score twice. The goal came just when Braga were starting to crank up some real pressure, so the timing could not have been more perfect. And it atones for Kent’s earlier sitter!
Goal! Braga 0-1 Rangers (Kent 61)
Is that the one that wins it? Hagi whips a quite marvellous ball behind the defence on halfway and Kent, running through the inside-left channel, shrugs off a defender before slotting superbly into the far corner. They deserve it!
Updated
59 min: A Braga free-kick is headed behind by Tavernier. They have a corner, and once again Rangers’ back line is dogged. Edmundson is playing very well.
57 min: Braga make Rangers defend a few crosses and headers, and defend them they do.
55 min: Kamberi gets to the right byline and his cutback is jabbed over by Kent. Difficult one to put away as the height was awkward. Kent’s movement in off the left has been very smart though.
53 min: A second Braga swap, because they clearly aren’t happy. Silva off, the more attacking Galeno on.
Updated
52 min: Rangers will be pleased. Braga have not come out raging and don’t really seem to have the quality to pose many grave problems. It’s a much different game to last week’s.
49 min: At the other end, Arfield has a shot blocked. Good ebb and flow to these early moments.
48 min: Edmundson reads the danger after a low ball from the useful Sequeira, who had rather a lot of space on the left.
46 min: Carmo is booked for dumping the raiding Arfield on his backside.
Peeeeeep!
Away we go again!
A Braga change: Joao Novais replaces the midfielder Paulinha.
Updated
Ian Copestake has words of solace, sort of, for Ianis Hagi:
“In his quite good career Gheorge Hagi managed to miss three penalties. He scored 28 though (one of those passed the mighty paws of Nigel Martyn).”
Half-time reading!
Half-time – Braga 0-0 Rangers
I’d have said “so far, so good” for Rangers, given Braga have only troubled them with a couple of headers for all their ball possession and set-pieces. But Rangers missed two great early opportunities and then, on half-time, could have plonked one foot in the last 16 with that penalty. They didn’t, though – and will Braga now come back out as a different beast?
Hagi's penalty is saved!
What a stop that is! Hagi goes for Matheus’s right and the keeper guesses, saving superbly with his left arm. The biggest chance of all, squandered!
Updated
Penalty to Rangers!
The corner isn’t the best, and perhaps that confuses the defender Silva. The ball bounces up, strikes him on the outstretched hand, and VAR confirms it. What a chance this is! Hagi to take ...
44 min: Now Kent is in again but, with three teammates open and gagging for a delivery, he can’t beat the first defender. It’s a corner, though, and ...
42 min: A sniff now for Rangers, with Kent fizzing in a delicious low cross from the left. Kamberi seems to be on his heels a little and doesn’t anticipate it for what could have been a tap-in.
41 min: Fransergio’s pass sails beyond Esgaio. Braga need a bit of a rocket at half-time, it’s not really happened for them. Barisic makes good ground down the Rangers left, meanwhile, sending in a cross that Viana thwacks away.
39 min: Rangers’ attacking threat has diminished a touch since that first 20 minutes. The openings are there if they can find some more good possession.
36 min: Now Barisic does well to slide in and prevent another Braga move down his side. Goalless at half-time would do Rangers against opponents who are clearly handy but haven’t exactly brimmed with constant danger.
34 min: Ricardo Horta gets behind Barisic on the right, the flag staying down, and should produce something better than a limp cross-shot straight at McGregor.
33 min: Bit of a scrappy phase now, with midfield turnovers aplenty. Still going to plan for Rangers, who have probably been the better side overall and have definitely had the best chances.
30 min: Oooh, Braga are getting closer. Another nice delivery comes in from the left, one attacker misses it and Fransergio – who maybe didn’t know too much about his header – is off target by a whisker.
28 min: Davis fouls Fransergio and Braga try to work the free-kick towards goal, but Jack covers well near his own box.
26 min: There’s a decent effort though! Sequeira crosses nicely from the left and McGregor has to tip Paulinho’s header over. The resulting corner is dealt with.
24 min: Hagi seems to have got behind Braga again but can’t quite beat the recovering defender. For all their possession and corners, Braga are yet to create very much.
22 min: Hagi curls it too high. None of the first-leg heroics from him just yet ... though that should have been a wonderful assist for Kent just now.
20 min: And now Kent should score! Hagi breaks free on the right with an audacious little dink over a sliding defender, pulls it back to Kent 10 yards out, but the winger drags wide! They won’t regret these early misses, will they? On the plus side they look very lively indeed – and have just won a free-kick right in Hagi or Barisic range ...
19 min: But Braga’s fourth corner does bring an effort on goal, Paulinho getting there first at the near post and heading wide.
18 min: Great pressing from Jack forces an error at the back from Braga but Kent can’t find Davis with his scooped pass. Rangers can, after an uncertain first few minutes, consider themselves happy so far.
16 min: Kent, who has started really well, plays in Kamberi but the forward’s touch just eludes him. He should have been sharper.
15 min: A third Braga corner comes to nothing but Rangers won’t want to be conceding so many of those.
14 min: Rangers break away but Kamberi’s cross-shot is blocked. Braga’s high line and press mean there is a flood of numbers at one end and considerable space at the other.
12 min: Esgaio’s raking cross flies *just* over the head of a home forward and is thudded away by Goldson. It’s an engaging game so far.
10 min: Another Braga corner is subsequently cleared. Rangers might be disappointed still to be level but that chance will cheer them. They got behind the hosts very well there.
9 min: Big chance for Kamberi! Arfield beats the offside trap and hasn’t got the pace to go all the way clear, but squares for Kamberi to take a free shot inside the box! He wraps his body round the ball, but the second-choice striker allows Matheus to parry. What an opportunity that way.
7 min: It’s not exactly the Alamo but Rangers haven’t really got a grip on things here yet.
5 min: Esgaio crosses from the right, Edmundson slips and Braga have the game’s first corner. Viana wins the header from Sequeira’s flag kick but McGregor is fouled as he rises to claim.
3 min: Kent tries to trick in from the left but gives away a foul. Rangers need to make sure they are calm and precise in possession here. Braga have started with purpose.
1 min: Rangers almost let Braga in within 13 seconds but manage to get the ball away. Think it was Davis being loose in possession. Can’t carry on like that!
Peeeeeeep! Here we go!
Can Rangers see it through?
The teams are now out in this wonderful quarry of a stadium – which, of course, has a cliff behind the goal! Nearly time to begin ...
Wednesday night Europa is a bit discombobulating, isn’t it? To be clear: the rest of the ties are tomorrow.
Peter Van loves the Europa League. And don’t we all!
“Unlike the CL, where the same teams play each other again and again, just look at how bonkers the round of 32 fixture list is: European titans (Porto, Ajax, Inter), mixed with clubs from Cyprus (APOEL), Sweden (Malmo) or Austria (had to look this one up - LASK).
“It’s also the only conceivable route to continent-wide glory for clubs like Rangers or Celtic (and, I suppose, Braga), considering the massive financial disparity brought on by the Champions League. And the football can be quite good too!”
So Morelos is replaced by Florian Kamberi, the winter signing who scored his first Rangers goal against St Johnstone on Sunday. Will he fire them into the last 16?
Teams
Braga: Magalhaes, Viana, Carmo, Silva, Esgaio, Trincao, Fransergio, Palhinha, Sequeira, R Horta, Paulinho. Subs: Tormena, Ruiz, Sa, A Horta, Novais, Fonte, Galeno.
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Edmundson, Barisic, Arfield, Davis, Jack, Hagi, Kamberi, Kent. Subs: Ojo, Foderingham, Halliday, Aribo, Kamara, Katic, Stewart.
Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Sweden).
Hello
This could be a historic night for modern-era Rangers. I mean, baby steps and all that, but if they can preserve or – perish the thought – see out their 3-2 advantage from the first leg they’ll bring up their best European run since 2010-11. Are they on their way back to continental eminence? Perhaps not quite, but it’d suggest they have a pulse.
That first leg at Ibrox was a belter. After an hour the tie seemed over. By full-time Rangers had scored three times to put themselves in the driving seat, sparking pandemonium and recalling some famous nights and the old venue. At the driving seat was Ianis Hagi – yes, his dad *is* who you think he is – with two goals, even if one was heavily deflected. The playmaker is a delightful operator to watch and, with him pulling the strings, Stevie G’s boys have a chance of completing the job in Portugal.
They’ll need to do it without their star striker Alfredo Morelos, though, as he’s suspended. They’ll also want to ignore the fact that their away record in Europe is distinctly non-clever: they have not won any of their last 15 games on the road, qualifiers excluded, although their last such triumph did come in Portugal – against Sporting in 2007-08.
Fortunately they only need to draw tonight! Can they do it? Don’t go away – we are about to find out!
Kick-off: 5pm GMT.
Updated
