Rangers 1 Osasuna 1: Rangers look to Hemdani for a lifeline

Osasuna are the team from Pamplona but it was Rangers who served up 90 minutes of bull at Ibrox last night. They slogged through this Uefa Cup last-16 first leg with no spark and few ideas before Brahim Hemdani salvaged a sliver of hope for next Wednesday's away leg with an equaliser struck in injury time. But Escudero Raul Garcia's first-half header is a valuable away goal for the Spaniards, and Rangers' task in the return fixture will be all the tougher because their captain, Barry Ferguson, booked last night, will now miss it.

Dreams of reaching the final at Hampden, where the showpiece will be held on 16 May, remain just that for now, and Rangers have nobody to blame but themselves. As their manager, Walter Smith, said: "Every aspect of our game was poor. A scoreline of 1-1 at the end flattered us, and flattered us greatly."

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Rangers' only consolation ahead of Sunday's Old Firm derby is that Celtic will be coping with their own Euro disappointment going into that game.

"There's only one team in Europe," the Rangers fans sang at kick-off last night, in goading reference to Celtic's elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Milan on Wednesday. Yet there was only one team in this match, and, against the odds, it wasn't the hosts.

Osasuna are struggling in La Liga, had scored only twice in six games before last night and were supposed to be down to the bare bones. Some skeleton. Even without both first-choice strikers, Savo Milosevic and Roberto Soldado, and with two key midfielders out and their captain suspended, they kept Rangers pinned in their own half. The hosts stuttered and blundered, in contrast to their last European game, when they beat Hapoel Tel Aviv 4-0.

The hero then was Ferguson, who last night equalled John Greig's club record of 64 European appearances. Another stat of note was that Stefan Klos - recalled in goal for his first start in a year because of Allan McGregor's suspension - has now played more matches in Europe than any player left in the Uefa Cup this season: 109, and 49 in this tournament.

His first meaningful involvement was to hold Jimenez Carlos Cuellar's strong header. His second was to pick the ball from the net. Luis Juan Lopez Gomez curled a cross from the right, and Klos could do nothing as Raul Garcia flashed in with his head at the far post.

Mere glimpses of cohesion were as good as Rangers got until the denouement, and Hemdani pounced on a moment of slackness in the Osasuna defence.

Rangers (4-4-1-1): Klos; Hutton, Ehiogu, Weir, Murray; Burke, Hemdani, Thomson (Prso, 67), Adam (Novo, h-t); Ferguson; Boyd (Sebo, 87). Substitutes not used: Robinson (gk), Rae, Sionko, Svensson.

Osasuna (4-1-4-1): Ricardo; Izquierdo, Cuellar, M Flano, Monreal; Nekounam; D Lopez, Munoz, Raul Garcia, Gomez (Juanfran, 77); Webo (Romero, 83). Substitutes not used: Vellejo (gk), Cruchaga, Romeo, J Flano, Font.

Referee: J Wegereef (Netherlands).