Rangers F.C. in Europe - Overview

Overview

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.

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 after an exhausting season of football, where Rangers were aiming for four trophies, but ultimately ended up with only two - the Scottish League Cup and Scottish Cup.

Rangers became the first British club to appear in the UEFA Champions League, when in 1992 they defeated Leeds United in a tie 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 knock-out 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 second in Group A, one point behind French champions Marseille, who defeated A.C. Milan in the final. The French club were later involved in a match-fixing scandal and were stripped of their national title. It is not clear whether the group stage of the 1992–93 Champions League should be considered as a semi-final, given that the winners of each group went into the final, or as a quarter-final, given that it was contested by the last eight teams in the competition. However, Rangers' second-placed finish in their group made them one of the top four 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 format of the competition, the European Cup.

Rangers became the first Scottish club to qualify from both the Champions League group stage in 2005–06 and the UEFA Cup group stage in 2006–07.

Season 2011–12, was Rangers' 51st 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.

Due to their entering administration in 2011-12, however, they have been effectively barred from European competition by UEFA, regardless of final placing.