Rangers F.C. in Europe

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Rangers played their first official match in competitive European football on October 2, 1956. This was a European Cup second round game against OGC Nice of France. The match ended in a 2-1 home victory for Rangers thanks to strikes from Max Murray (Rangers' first European goal) and Billy Simpson.

Barcelona scoring against Rangers in a Champions League match at Camp Nou.

The club's first ever match against European opponents however, was a friendly match against Austrian side First Vienna in the 1903-04 season during a tour of Austria and Czechoslovakia which resulted in six victories from six matches. They won the match 7–2.^[1]

In season 1960-61 Rangers took part in the inaugural European Cup Winners Cup. In this season they became the first British club to reach a European final, eventually losing 4–1 on aggregate to Fiorentina. Rangers were also runners-up to Bayern Munich in 1966-67. However, they did go on to win the trophy in 1972 after defeating Dynamo Moscow.

The 1982-83 season saw Rangers play in the UEFA Cup for the first time. They defeated German side Borussia Dortmund in the first round but were knocked out in the following round by another side from Germany, 1. FC Köln. Over a quarter of a century after their first appearance they reached the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. They played Russian side Zenit Saint Petersburg at the City of Manchester Stadium, but lost 2-0 in a match overshadowed by the rioting of Rangers fans in Manchester.

Rangers became the first British club to appear in the UEFA Champions League, when in 1992 they defeated Leeds United in a qualifying round dubbed the Battle of Britain due to the clubs being the respective champions of Scotland and England. In this the inaugural season of the Champions League the tournament was open only to national champions, with qualifying rounds leading to a group stage of eight teams in two groups of four, and only the winners of each group progressing to a one-off final match. Although unbeaten Rangers finished 2nd in Group A one point behind French champions Marseille, who defeated AC Milan in the final. The French club were later involved in a match fixing scandal and were stripped of their title. It is not clear whether the group stage of the 1992-1993 Champions League should be considered as a semi-final, given that the winners of each went into a final, or as a quarter final, given that it was contested by the last 8 teams in the competition: However Rangers' second placed finish in their group made them one of the top 4 teams in that season's tournament, their highest ever finish in the UEFA Champions League and equalling their 1959/60 run to the semi-finals in its predecessor competition the European Cup.

Rangers became the first Scottish club to qualify from both the Champions League group stage in 2005-06^[2] and the UEFA Cup group stage in 2006-07.^[3]

As of season 2007-08, Rangers are involved in their 47th European campaign. They have competed in European competitions in more seasons than any other British club. In fact only Real Madrid, Barcelona, Anderlecht and Sporting Lisbon have taken part in more campaigns.

[edit] Matches in Europe

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Score
1956-57	European Cup	Second Round	OGC Nice	2-1, 1-2, 1-3
1957-58	European Cup	First Round	AS Saint-Étienne	3-1, 1-2
		Second Round	A.C. Milan	1-4, 0-2
1959-60	European Cup	First Round	Anderlecht	5-2, 2-0
		Second Round	Red Star Bratislava	4-3, 1-1
		Quarter-Final	Sparta Rotterdam	3-2, 0-1, 3-2
		Semi-Final	Eintracht Frankfurt	1-6, 3-6
1960-61	Cup Winners Cup	First Round	Ferencvaros	4-2, 1-2
		Quarter-Final	Borussia Mönchengladbach	3-0, 8-0
		Semi-Final	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2-0, 1-1
		Final	ACF Fiorentina	0-2, 1-2
1961-62	European Cup	First Round	AS Monaco	3-2, 3-2
		Second Round	ASK Vorwärts Berlin	2-1, 4-1
		Quarter-Final	Standard Liège	1-4, 2-0
1962-63	Cup Winners Cup	First Round	Sevilla	4-0, 0-2
		Second Round	Tottenham Hotspur	2-5, 2-3
1963-64	European Cup	First Round	Real Madrid	0-1, 0-6
1964-65	European Cup	First Round	Red Star Belgrade	3-1, 2-4, 3-1
		Second Round	Rapid Vienna	1-0, 2-0
		Quarter-Final	Inter Milan	1-3, 1-0
1966-67	Cup Winners Cup	First Round	Glentoran	1-1, 4-0
		Second Round	Borussia Dortmund	2-1, 0-0
		Quarter-Final	Rapid Vienna	2-0, 0-2 ^[4]
		Semi-Final	Slavia Sofia	1-0, 1-0
		Final	Bayern Munich	0-1
1967-68	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	First Round	Dynamo Dresden	1-1, 2-1
		Second Round	1. FC Köln	3-0, 1-3
		Third Round	Bye	Bye
		Quarter-Final	Leeds United	0-0, 0-2
1968-69	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	First Round	FK Vojvodina	2-0, 0-1
		Second Round	Dundalk	6-1, 3-0
		Third Round	DWS Amsterdam	2-0, 2-1
		Quarter-Final	Athletic Bilbao	4-1, 0-2
		Semi-Final	Newcastle United	0-0, 0-2
1969-70	Cup Winners Cup	First Round	Steaua Bucharest	2-0, 0-0
		Second Round	Górnik Zabrze	1-3, 1-3
1970-71	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	First Round	Bayern Munich	0-1, 1-1
1971-72	Cup Winners Cup	First Round	Stade Rennes	1-1, 1-0
		Second Round	Sporting Lisbon	3-2, 3-4^[5]
		Quarter-Final	Torino	1-1, 1-0
		Semi-Final	Bayern Munich	1-1, 2-0
		Final	Dinamo Moscow	3-2
1972-73	European Super Cup	Final	Ajax	1-3, 2-3
1973-74	Cup Winners Cup	First Round	Ankaragücü	2-0, 4-0
		Second Round	Borussia Mönchengladbach	0-3, 3-2
1975-76	European Cup	First Round	Bohemians	4-1, 1-1
		Second Round	AS Saint-Étienne	0-2, 1-2
1976-77	European Cup	First Round	FC Zürich	1-1, 0-1
1977-78	Cup Winners Cup	Qualifier	BSC Young Boys	1-0, 2-2
		First Round	FC Twente	0-0, 0-3
1978-79	European Cup	First Round	Juventus	0-1, 2-0
		Second Round	PSV Eindhoven	0-0, 3-2
		Quarter-Final	1. FC Köln	0-1, 1-1
1979-80	Cup Winners Cup	First Qualifier	Lillestrøm SK	1-0, 2-0
		First Round	Fortuna Düsseldorf	2-1, 0-0
		Second Round	Valencia CF	1-1, 1-3
1981-82	Cup Winners Cup	First Round	Dukla Prague	0-3, 2-1
1982-83	UEFA Cup	First Round	Borussia Dortmund	0-0, 2-0
		Second Round	1. FC Köln	2-1, 0-5
1983-84	Cup Winners Cup	First Round	Valletta F.C.	8-0, 10-0
		Second Round	F.C. Porto	2-1, 0-1
1984-85	UEFA Cup	First Round	Bohemians	2-3, 2-0
		Second Round	Inter Milan	0-3, 3-1
1985-86	UEFA Cup	First Round	CA Osasuna	1-0, 0-2
1986-87	UEFA Cup	First Round	Ilves Tampere	4-0, 0-2
		Second Round	Boavista	2-1, 1-0
		Third Round	Borussia Mönchengladbach	1-1, 0-0 ^[6]
1987-88	European Cup	First Round	Dynamo Kiev	0-1, 2-0
		Second Round	Górnik Zabrze	3-1, 1-1
		Quarter-Final	Steaua Bucharest	0-2, 2-1
1988-89	UEFA Cup	First Round	GKS Katowice	1-0, 4-2
		Second Round	1. FC Köln	0-2, 1-1
1989-90	European Cup	First Round	Bayern Munich	1-3, 0-0
1990-91	European Cup	First Round	Valletta F.C.	4-0, 6-0
		Second Round	Red Star Belgrade	0-3, 1-1
1991-92	European Cup	First Round	Sparta Prague	0-1, 2-1
1992-93	Champions League	First Round	Lyngby BK	2-0, 1-0
		Second Round	Leeds United	2-1, 2-1
		Group A	Olympique Marseille	2-2, 1-1
		Group A	CSKA Moscow	1-0, 0-0
		Group A	Club Brugge	1-1, 2-1
1994-95	Champions League	First Round	AEK Athens	0-2, 0-1
1995-96	Champions League	First Round	Anorthosis Famagusta	1-0, 0-0
		Group C	Steaua Bucharest	0-1, 1-1
		Group C	Borussia Dortmund	2-2, 2-2
		Group C	Juventus	1-4, 0-4
1996-97	Champions League	First Round	Alania Vladikavkaz	3-1, 7-2
		Group A	Grasshopper-Club Zürich	0-3, 2-1
		Group A	AJ Auxerre	1-2, 1-2
		Group A	Ajax	1-4, 0-1
1997-98	Champions League	First Qualifier	GÍ Gøta	5-0, 6-0
		Second Qualifier	IFK Gothenburg	0-3, 1-1
	UEFA Cup	First Round	RC Strasbourg	1-2, 1-2
1998-99	UEFA Cup	First Qualifier	Shelbourne	5-3, 2-0
		Second Qualifier	PAOK	2-0, 0-0
		First Round	Beitar Jerusalem	1-1, 4-2
		Second Round	Bayer Leverkusen	2-1, 1-1
		Third Round	Parma	1-1, 1-3
1999-00	Champions League	Second Qualifier	FC Haka	4-1, 3-0
		Third Qualifier	Parma	2-0, 0-1
		Group F	Valencia CF	0-2, 1-2
		Group F	Bayern München	1-1, 0-1
		Group F	PSV Eindhoven	1-0, 4-1
	UEFA Cup	Third Round	Borussia Dortmund	2-0, 0-2 ^[7]
2000-01	Champions League	Second Qualifier	Zalgiris Kaunas	4-1, 0-0
		Third Qualifier	Herfølge BK	3-0, 3-0
		Group D	Sturm Graz	5-0, 0-2
		Group D	AS Monaco	1-0, 2-2
		Group D	Galatasaray	2-3, 0-0
	UEFA Cup	Third Round	Kaiserslautern	1-0, 0-3
2001-02	Champions League	Second Qualifier	NK Maribor	3-0, 3-1
		Third Qualifier	Fenerbahçe	0-0, 1-2
	UEFA Cup	First Round	Anzhi Makhachkala	1-0
		Second Round	Dinamo Moscow	3-1, 4-1
		Third Round	Paris Saint-Germain	0-0, 0-0 ^[8]
		Fourth Round	Feyenoord	1-1, 2-3
2002-03	UEFA Cup	First Round	FK Viktoria Žižkov	0-2, 3-1
2003-04	Champions League	Third Qualifier	F.C. Copenhagen	1-1, 2-1
		Group E	VfB Stuttgart	2-1, 0-1
		Group E	Panathinaikos	1-1, 1-3
		Group E	Manchester United	0-1, 0-3
2004-05	Champions League	Third Qualifier	CSKA Moscow	1-2, 1-1
	UEFA Cup	First Round	C.S. Marítimo	0-1, 1-0 ^[9]
		Group F	Amica Wronki	5-0
		Group F	Grazer AK	3-0
		Group F	AZ Alkmaar	0-1
		Group F	AJ Auxerre	0-2
2005-06	Champions League	Third Qualifier	Anorthosis Famagusta	2-1, 2-0
		Group H	F.C. Porto	3-2, 1-1
		Group H	Inter Milan	0-1, 1-1
		Group H	Artmedia Bratislava	0-0, 2-2
		Second Round ^[10]	Villarreal CF	2-2, 1-1
2006-07	UEFA Cup	First Round	Molde FK	0-0, 2-0
		Group A	Livorno	3-2
		Group A	Maccabi Haifa	2-0
		Group A	AJ Auxerre	2-2
		Group A	Partizan Belgrade	1-0
		Third Round	Hapoel Tel Aviv	1-2, 4-0
		Fourth Round	CA Osasuna	1-1, 0-1
2007-08	Champions League	Second Qualifier	FK Zeta	2-0, 1-0
		Third Qualifier	Red Star Belgrade	1-0, 0-0
		Group E	VfB Stuttgart	2-1, 2-3
		Group E	Lyon	3-0, 0-3
		Group E	Barcelona	0-0, 0-2
	UEFA Cup	Third Round	Panathinaikos	0-0, 1-1
		Fourth Round	Werder Bremen	2-0, 0-1
		Quarter-Final	Sporting Lisbon	0-0, 2-0
		Semi-Final	Fiorentina	0-0, 0-0 ^[11]
		Final	Zenit St Petersburg	0-2

[edit] Record by country of opposition

Correct as of May 31, 2008

Country	P	W	D	L	Win %
Austria	7	5	0	2	71.43
Belgium	6	4	1	1	66.67
Bulgaria	2	2	0	0	100
Cyprus	4	3	1	0	75
Czechoslovakia	6	3	1	2	50
Czech Republic	2	1	0	1	50
Denmark	6	5	1	0	83.33
East Germany	4	3	1	0	75
England	12	3	3	6	25
Faroe Islands	2	2	0	0	100
Finland	4	3	0	1	75
France	25	7	7	11	28
Germany	45	15	14	16	33.33
Greece	8	1	4	3	12.50
Hungary	2	1	0	1	50
Ireland	8	6	1	1	75
Israel	5	3	1	1	60
Italy	23	6	5	12	26.08
Lithuania	2	1	1	0	50
Malta	4	4	0	0	100
Montenegro	2	2	0	0	100
Netherlands	18	7	3	8	38.89
Northern Ireland	2	1	1	0	50
Norway	4	3	1	0	75
Poland	7	4	1	2	57.14
Portugal	12	7	2	3	60
Romania	6	2	2	2	33.33
Russia	10	6	2	2	60.00
Serbia	3	2	1	0	66.67
Slovakia	2	0	2	0	0
Spain	18	3	5	10	16.67
Sweden	2	0	1	1	0
Switzerland	6	2	2	2	33.33
Turkey	6	2	2	2	33.33
USSR	3	2	0	1	66.67
Yugoslavia	7	3	1	3	42.85
Totals	285	124	67	94	43.66

P - Played; W - Won; D - Drawn; L - Lost

[edit] References

^ White, John (2006). The Rangers Football Miscellany. Carlton Books, p. 10. ISBN 1-84442-158-9.
^ "Rangers 1-1 Inter Milan", BBC Sport website, 6 December 2005.
^ "Auxerre 2-2 Rangers", BBC Sport website, 23 November 2006.
^ Rangers won on the toss of a coin
^ Rangers lost this match after a penalty shoot-out, only for manager Willie Waddell to point out to the referee that they had in fact won on away goals. [1]
^ Rangers lost on the away goals rule
^ Rangers lost the penalty shoot out, 1-3
^ Rangers won the penalty shoot out, 4-3
^ Rangers won the penalty shoot out, 4-2
^ Effectively the last 16 teams
^ Rangers won the penalty shoot out, 4-2