AFCON 2025
Club Brugge stunned Rangers with a blistering first-half performance in their Champions League play-off first leg at Ibrox, racing into a 3–0 lead inside 20 minutes.
Romeo Vermant opened the scoring in the third minute, Jorne Spileers doubled the advantage moments later, and Brandon Mechele added a third to leave the home side shell-shocked. The brutal start even saw sections of the home support leave the stadium early in frustration.
Rangers improved after the break and found a response when Danilo converted a pass from debutant Jayden Meghoma five minutes into the second half. They thought they had pulled another back through Djeidi Gassama, but VAR controversially ruled out the effort, adjudging goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had control of the ball.
The tie ended 3–1, leaving Rangers with a mountain to climb in the return leg in Belgium next week.
Elsewhere, Qarabağ also secured a commanding away win, coming from behind to beat Ferencváros 3–1 in Budapest. After conceding an early opener, the Azerbaijani champions struck back with goals from Marko Janković, Kevin Medina, and Musa Gurbanli to take control of the tie heading back to Baku.
In Belgrade, Pafos produced a surprise 2–1 victory over Crvena Zvezda. João Correia gave the Cypriot side an early lead, Pêpê converted from the penalty spot to double their advantage, and although Bruno Duarte pulled one back for the Serbian champions, Pafos held firm to carry a slender but valuable advantage into the second leg.
The night’s results leave Club Brugge, Qarabağ, and Pafos firmly in the driving seat as the second legs approach, with Rangers, Ferencváros, and Crvena Zvezda facing uphill battles to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
