Rangers kicked out of Europa
NIEDERKORN: Rangers suffered one of the worst defeats in their 145-year history on Tuesday after part-timers Progres Niederkorn sent them spinning out of the Europa League qualifiers with a 2-0 win in Luxembourg.
Rangers, the 54-time champions of Scotland, won the first leg in Glasgow 1-0 last week but were undone by second-half strikes from Emmanuel Francoise and Sebastien Thill as Niederkorn recorded their first win in 14 European games.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha, who brought in eight new players in a bid to close the gap on last season’s runaway champions Celtic, described the defeat as “unthinkable” and said it was the worst result of his managerial career.
“I think it is a thing that happens once in a lifetime ... and that is part of the football, but as I say, it’s a disappointment and I assume all the responsibility,” he told the club’s website.
“We need to apologise to our fans because they gave us support and loyalty, they don’t deserve this.”
Rangers won promotion back to the top flight in 2016 after a four-year exile from the elite, which began after their financial meltdown and liquidation in 2012 when they were demoted to the basement of the Scottish game.
For Progres, this was the greatest result in their history.
Head coach Paolo Amodio told BBC Scotland: “It’s a great event, amazing. I cannot believe that we won 2-0 against Rangers. It’s not possible.
“We made history and I can’t believe it. It’s incredible.”
Up until Tuesday night Progres, who finished fourth in Luxembourg’s top flight last season, had not won any of their 13 games in Europe.