Champions League qualifications: Benfica beats Mourinho’s Fenerbahce; Club Brugge humiliates Rangers

Benfica and Fenerbahce had signed 0-0 last week in the first stage in Istanbul, and their draw was eventually arranged by a single goal in the return to Lisbon, scored by Turkish International Kerem Akturgoglu late in the first half.

That made it a forgetful return to the Estadio da Luz for Mourinho, who was a quarter of a century ago Benfica coach at the start of his management career.

Benfica, which lost to Barcelona last season in the last 16, joined City Rival Sporting in the Thursday phase of Thursday, while Fenerbahce has to settle for a place in the Europa League – it has not been released in the Champions League since 2008/09.

Elsewhere, FC Copenhagen beat the Swiss champion Basel Basel with 2-0 in the night, thanks to the second half of goals from Andreas Cornelius and Youssoufa Moukoko, of a penalty, to go 3-1 on aggregate.

Qarabag from Azerbaijan defeated Hungary’s Ferencvaros 5-4 on aggregated despite a 3-2 loss of second leg at home in Baku.

Leandro Andrade and Abdellah Zoubir scored in the night before Qarabag, with Gabi Kanichowsky, Barnabas Varga of a penalty, and Alex Toth Nets for the visitors.

Rangers suffers humiliation in Belgium

Rangers bowed on Wednesday from the Champions League play-offs with a humiliating 6-0 defeat through the hands of Club Brugge, who also stacks pressure on manager Russell Martin, while Benfica achieved a place in the competition at the expense of Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.

The Glasgow Giant traveled straight to Belgium after losing 1-3 at home in the first stage of last week, when it admitted three times in the first 20 minutes.

It never looked like the tide turned when Club Brugge took the lead in Jan Breydel Stadium in five minutes via Nicolo Tresoldi and five goals were first in the night before half -time.

Rangers was reduced to 10 men in the eighth minute when Max Aarons a straight red card was shown for the expiry of Christos Tzolis and the striker denied a clear run on goal.

The visitors collapsed properly when Tzolis hit the bar from a distance before his corner went through Hans Vanaken, who shortly afterwards hit the woodwork with a brilliant volley.

Joaquin Seys added a Quickfire-Double before Aleksandar Stankovic son of Inter Milan’s 2010 Champions League winner Dejan-Op was gone in the fifth of the Night of the Hosts in the first half stop time.

Tzolis completed the routed early in the second half and closed a 9-1 total victory for the Belgians.

The defeat corresponds to the toughest losing margin in Rangers in a European competition.

It will fall in the Europa League, while the position of Martin appears in Jeopardy with the Champions League debacle, after a start of his domestic campaign, which attracted his first three Scottish Premiership matches.

The next match of Rangers is a derby with high deployment in Ibrox against Celtic this weekend, which was driven out on penalties from the Champions League by Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty in his play-off draw on Tuesday.

«All you can do tonight is to accept the pain, accept the humiliation,» Martin told Omroep TNT sports.

«We have to heal and become stronger. We have to show a big reaction on Sunday.»

Published on August 28, 2025