Rangers were eliminated from European competition on Thursday evening after losing a penalty shootout to Czech side FK Jablonec in their UEFA Conference League play-off tie.
The Scottish Premiership club had taken a 1-0 advantage into the second leg in Jablonec nad Nisou following last week's victory at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow. However, a second-half goal from Vakhtang Chanturishvili leveled the aggregate score at 1-1 and forced the tie into extra time.
Neither side could break the deadlock during the additional 30 minutes, leading to a penalty shootout to determine who advanced to the group stage of Europe's third-tier tournament. Rangers players Findlay Curtis and James Penrice both missed from the spot, confirming a dramatic exit for the visiting side.
The defeat leaves Rangers with no European group-stage football for the 2026-27 season. It marks the first time the Glasgow club has failed to reach the main stage of a European competition since their infamous loss to Luxembourgish team Progres Niederkorn in 2017. Throughout the 120 minutes of action, Rangers failed to create any clear goalscoring opportunities.
Penalty defeat in Czech Republic
Rangers manager Derek McInnes did not hide his disappointment after watching his side crash out of the tournament. Speaking after the final whistle, McInnes described the performance as gutless and admitted he was deeply embarrassed by his team's display.
"First of all, I'm embarrassed with the performance," McInnes said. "I think the only people who represented the club well tonight were my staff, the support staff in the preparation. We do so much right here to get the players ready and in peak condition to go and perform. And the supporters, who to a man were outstanding, getting behind the team despite watching what we all watched."
McInnes insisted that the blame should not rest solely on the shoulders of the players who failed to convert in the shootout. "It wasn't a good performance by any stretch of the imagination," he added. "Then you think you might just get through once it goes to penalties. It shouldn't have come down to two boys, James Penrice and Findlay Curtis, in tears for missing a penalty-kick. It shouldn't have come down to that."
"I'm not going to sit here and make any excuses whatsoever," the manager continued. "Yes, there's been a big turnover of players. Yes, we looked very inexperienced at times. But the responsibility is mine to make sure that we are better than what we served up tonight. And we were miles short, miles short. The opposition were better than us in most aspects of the game if I'm honest, so we got what we deserved."
McInnes delivers scathing assessment
The manager noted that even a shootout victory would only have disguised deeper underlying issues within the squad. "If we'd won it on penalties, we'd have taken it, of course, because of how important that is. But that would have covered over the cracks, to be honest. I'm mortified by the performance. I know you can lose games of football, but we should have enough in the building to take care of that tonight."
McInnes pointed to basic tactical and physical failings across the pitch during the match. "I just feel as though we're elite in everything we do in terms of the preparation, yet the performance lacked everything, really, in terms of winning duels, winning second balls, looking after the ball, keeping things simple," he said.
"Our press wasn't good enough," McInnes explained. "When the press was good and we went man for man, we weren't strong enough in the challenges. We weren't strong enough to win second balls. We didn't win tackles. It just wasn't anywhere near good enough."
Raskin transfer uncertainty
Rangers played the crucial fixture without key Belgian midfielder Nico Raskin, who remained in Glasgow amid ongoing transfer interest from other clubs. Despite speculation surrounding the player's future, McInnes revealed that no official financial offers have been submitted for his services.
"There have been no offers for Nico," McInnes clarified. "It's just been quite a few conversations. So I don't know where that's at. That may well change. But I did think we lacked a bit of experience in the middle of the pitch at times."
"I think any team would miss somebody like Nico, but I need to say that's not the reason why we've lost tonight," McInnes added. "We should still have enough in the building, as I said. I'll take responsibility for the result, but the responsibility is shared. The players have got to be better than that. It's my job to help the players, but they've got to help themselves as well."
Pressure builds ahead of Aberdeen fixture
The defeat places further scrutiny on McInnes following a difficult start to the domestic campaign. Addressing the travelling Rangers supporters who made the journey to Central Europe, the manager acknowledged their loyalty and expressed remorse for the poor showing on the pitch.
"It's such a low point," McInnes admitted. "I'm gutted for the supporters because they've come here. We come over on a charter flight, we stay in a nice hotel, we get all the preparation, and they come here whatever way they can. They don't always need to see their team perform brilliantly, but they do deserve to see their team perform way better than that. For that, it's not good enough."
Rangers must now recover quickly as they turn their attention back to domestic football. The team travels to face Scottish Premiership rivals Aberdeen at Pittodrie Stadium on Sunday in a match that has quickly become vital for McInnes and his squad.
