Progrès Niederkorn 2–0 Rangers

Progrès Niederkorn vs Rangers was a football match played on 4 July 2017 at the Stade Josy Barthel. The match was a UEFA Europa League first qualifying round tie between Luxembourgian minnows Progrès Niederkorn, who finished fourth in the 2016–17 National Division, and Scottish side Rangers, who finished third in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership.[1]

Progrès Niederkorn 2–0 Rangers
Event2017–18 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round – Second leg
Progrès Niederkorn Rangers
2 0
Date4 July 2017 (2017-07-04)
VenueStade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City
Man of the MatchOlivier Thill
RefereeVilhjalmur Thororinsson (Iceland)
Attendance5,534

At the time, the Luxembourg National Division was among the lowest ranked football leagues in terms of their UEFA coefficient.[2] In addition, Progrès had only ever scored one goal and had never before won a game in European competition in their 100-year history.[3] In contrast, Rangers have a proud history of success in Europe, they won the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup and finished runners up in the 1961 and 1967 finals of the same competition, they also finished as runners-up in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup.[4][5]

The result, 2–0 to Progrès, is considered by some media outlets as "humiliating" for Rangers and was described as "the worst result in the club's history". It sent Rangers out of European competition for another year, having not qualified in the previous six years since their original holding company's liquidation in 2012.[6][7]

Build-up

Led by French manager Thomas Gilgemann, Niederkorn finished fourth in the 2016–17 Luxembourg National Division and thus qualified for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. In 2006, Niederkorn were promoted from the Division of Honour to the Luxembourgian top flight, the club initially struggled and had to face the relegation playoffs in the 2012–13 season. However, they saw success in the subsequent years. They qualified for the 2015–16 Europa League for the first time since 1982 by finishing fourth but succumbed to a 3–0 defeat on aggregate to Shamrock Rovers in the first qualifying round.[8] Niederkorn repeated that league success of the previous year in 2016–17 by finishing fourth which again placed them in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, this time they were drawn against Rangers.

On 13 March 2017, Rangers assigned Portuguese national Pedro Caixinha to the role of manager after the club finished third in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership, which qualified them for the Europa League. The 2016–17 season was Rangers' first season back in the Scottish Premier League after being sent to the lowest tier of the Scottish football league system, the Third Division (now known as League Two), for the 2012–13 season as they entered into administration.[9] The club hadn't seen European competition in six years after consistently qualifying since the 1956–57 European Cup.

On 29 June 2017, Rangers won the first leg of their tie against Progrès Niederkorn 1–0 at Ibrox, and went into the game with high hopes.[10]

Match
"I’m just disappointed. I assume all the responsibility. We could not do what we were here to do – win the game. What happened to us today is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. That’s part of football of course."[11]

Pedro Caixinha, speaking after the game.

Ranger's starting eleven contained Caixinha's new signings Daniel Candeias, Alfredo Morelos and Fábio Cardoso, and also saw Ryan Jack receive his debut.

The visitors saw the most of the ball in the early stages of the game but couldn't find a way past the defence of Niederkorn. Rangers striker Kenny Miller, who scored the goal in the reverse leg, saw his shot blocked, and that was the closest Rangers came to a goal in the first half. The sides went in for the half time interval with the score remaining level.

The deadlock was almost broken by Rangers with a Niko Kranjčar header which came back off the crossbar, but it was Progrès that initiated the scoring. In the 66th minute, Rangers conceded a free-kick in a threatening position. It proved decisive as Emmanuel Françoise headed in the opening goal and scored the clubs first European goal since a 1–1 draw against Glentoran F.C. in 1981, 36 years prior.

Progrès then doubled their lead on the night and took the lead on aggregate in the 75th minute from another free-kick. Sébastien Thill curled in a free kick which evaded everyone and crept in at the far post.

Rangers failed to score a vital away goal which would send them through, despite hitting the bar twice, and Progrès secured their first win in European competition in their 100-year history.

Details
Progrès Niederkorn2–0Rangers
 Report
Attendance: 5,534
Referee: Vilhjalmur Thororinsson (Iceland)
Progrès Niederkorn
Rangers
GK1 Sébastien Flauss 33'
DF10 Olivier Thill 78'
DF23 Adrien Ferino
DF38 Metin Karayer
DF70 Yaan Matias
MF11 Mike Schneider
MF16 Maximilian Watzka
MF31 Sébastien Thill (c)
MF14 Emmanuel Françoise
FW25 Alexis Lafon
FW87 Aleksandre Karapetian 84'
Substitutes:
GK13 Charly Schinker 33'
DF5 Ben Vogel 78'
DF17 David Marques Soares
DF20 Tony Mastrangelo
DF27 Alessandro Fiorani 84'
MF7 Ricky Borges Magalhaes
FW9 Théo Sully
Manager:
Thomas Gilgemann
GK1 Wes Foderingham
DF2 James Tavernier
DF4 Fábio Cardoso
DF5 Lee Wallace (c)
DF24 David Bates
MF18 Jordan Rossiter 77'
MF19 Niko Kranjčar
MF21 Daniel Candeias 58'
MF8 Ryan Jack
FW20 Alfredo Morelos 45'
FW9 Kenny Miller
Substitutes:
GK25 Jak Alnwick
DF40 Ross McCrorie
MF7 Dálcio 45'
MF11 Josh Windass 58'
MF23 Jason Holt
FW15 Eduardo Herrera 77'
FW33 Martyn Waghorn
Manager:
Pedro Caixinha

Aftermath

Rangers
See also: 2017–18 Rangers F.C. season
"For the Rangers fans it's humiliating. For the players, humbling, and when the dust settles on what some are calling the worst result in the club's history there will be huge questions to answer for the Rangers board and manager Pedro Caixinha."[12]

BBC Scotland senior football reporter Chris McLaughlin commenting after the match.

After the defeat, Scottish media outlets regarded the match as one of the most embarrassing defeats in the history of Rangers, the history of Scottish football, and one of the greatest shocks in European football. The BBC described the match as "humiliating" for Rangers, and the Daily Record dubbed it "a horror show", before adding "a utterly horrific result".[13]

After that disappointing start to the season, Rangers' form did not improve. Notable results include a 2–0 defeat to Celtic at home in the league[14] and defeat to Motherwell in the Scottish League Cup semi-final by the same scoreline.[15] On 26 October, a day after a 95th-minute equaliser at Ibrox by last-placed Kilmarnock saw Rangers draw 1–1, Caixinha was sacked and Graeme Murty took over as caretaker manager for the second time. The Portuguese manager's reign was the shortest ever in the club's history, only serving 229 days in charge. It was described as "a desperate mess from start to finish".[16]

Progrès Niederkorn

In the second qualifying round, Progrès Niederkorn played Cypriot side AEL Limassol and were eliminated 3–1 on aggregate, losing both legs.[17] AEL Limassol only survived to the next round, where they were defeated by Austria Wien.

2018–19

Both clubs qualified for the Europa League again the following season, after Progrès Niederkorn improved their domestic league position from 4th to 2nd in the 2017–18 Luxembourg National Division and Rangers again finished 3rd in the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership. They each defeated two opponents to reach the third qualifying round, with the advance draw for the subsequent Play-off round pairing them up again should both make it through;[18] However, while Rangers did advance, Progrès were narrowly defeated by Russian club FC Ufa;[19] the Luxembourgers had already achieved their best-ever outcome in European competitions by winning the two prior rounds. Rangers went on to defeat FC Ufa in the Play-off round and thus qualified for the group stages of the Europa League.

2019–20

Both clubs qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League and were drawn to face each other again, this time in the second qualifying round, both having navigated the first round.[20] Rangers won the tie and advanced with a 2–0 victory in Scotland and a 0–0 draw in Luxembourg.[21]

See also

References
  1. "Rangers should be embarrassed at finishing third, says Derek McInnes". BBC Sport. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  2. "UEFA rankings for club competitions". Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  3. "What is the worst European result for a Scottish side?". BBC Sports. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  4. "The forgotten story of … Rangers' 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup win". The Guardian. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  5. "Zenit St Petersburg 2–0 Rangers". BBC Sports. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  6. "Rangers suffer humiliating loss to Luxembourg side in Europa League qualifying". The Guardian. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  7. "Scott Mullen: Rangers are back in Europe, but going where and how quickly". Evening Times. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  8. "Shamrock Rovers 3–0 Progrès Niederkorn". Sky Sports. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  9. "Scottish Premiership ins and outs - summer 2016". BBC Sports. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  10. "Rangers 1–0 Progrès Niederkorn". BBC Sports. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  11. "Alex Rae: Scottish football a 'laughing stock' after Rangers loss". Evening Telegraph. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  12. "Progrès Niederkorn 2–0 Rangers". BBC Sport. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  13. "Progres 2 Rangers 0 RECAP: All the reaction on a horror night for Ibrox club as they crash out of Europa League to minnows". Daily Record (Scotland). 4 July 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  14. "Rangers 0–2 Celtic". BBC Sport. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  15. "Rangers 0–2 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 22 October 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  16. "Rangers: Pedro Caixinha sacked as manager after board meeting". BBC Sport. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  17. "Progrès Niederkorn Fall to Cypriot Team AEL". Luxembourg Chronicle. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  18. "UEFA Europa League play-off draw". UEFA.com. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  19. "Rangers advance into Europa play-offs after Maribor draw". BBC Sport. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  20. Rangers 6–0 St. Joseph's (agg 10–0): Morelos nets hat-trick as hosts book date with Progres, BBC Sport, 18 July 2019
  21. Progres Niederkorn 0-0 Rangers (0-2): Scots ease through in Europa League, BBC Sport, 1 August 2019
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