ECL: Rangers hang by a thread after Euro defeat to Malmo

Rangers' hopes of making the Champions League group stages hang by a thread after Malmo claimed a deserved 1-0 win at Ibrox in the first leg of their third qualifying round match on Tuesday.

At Ibrox, Rangers were given their first warning in the ninth minute when Figueiredo evaded two defenders in the box to sting the palms of McGregor with a ferocious strike with Jimmy Durmaz side footing the rebound wide.

Steven Whittaker crossed for Nikica Jelavic to head wide but disaster struck for the full-back at the other end when his mistake led to the opening goal in the 18th minute.

The Swedes, half-way through their season and appearing sharper than the Scottish champions, secured a vital away goal through a wonder strike from Daniel Larsson.

Results of Champions League third preliminary round, first leg matches:

Zestafoni (GEO) 1 Sturm Graz (AUT) 1
Ekranas (LTU) 0 BATE Borisov (BLR) 0
Apoel Nicosia (CYP) 0 Slovan Bratislava (SVK) 0
Litex Lovech (BUL) 2 Wisla Krakow (POL) 2

Dynamo Kiev (UKR) 0 Rubin Kazan (RUS) 2
Rangers (SCO) 0 Malmo (SWE) 1
Genk (BEL) 2 Partizan Belgrade (SRB) 1
Twente (NED) 2 Vaslui (ROM) 0

ORIGINAL SOURCE

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