Rangers suffered one of the darkest nights in their European history as they were ruthlessly dismantled 6-0 by Club Brugge in Belgium. Reduced to ten men early on and unable to recover from their poor first-leg showing, the Scottish giants were overwhelmed from the very start, leaving manager Russell Martin under immense pressure after just ten games in charge.
The nightmare began in the fifth minute when Nicolo Tresoldi nodded in the opener, setting the tone for a relentless Brugge onslaught. Matters worsened almost immediately as Max Aarons, caught out of position, hauled back Christos Tzolis and was shown a straight red card. The defensive collapse forced Martin to call on captain James Tavernier from the bench, but any hopes of damage limitation quickly disappeared.
Veteran midfielder Hans Vanaken doubled the lead with a header before crashing a volley against the frame of the goal, underlining Brugge’s dominance. Full-back Joaquin Seys compounded Rangers’ misery with a quickfire brace, both times left unmarked at the back post, before Aleksandar Stanković added a fifth with a free header. By half-time, the tie was long dead, the visitors utterly exposed.
After the interval, Tzolis finally got his reward, capitalising on Tresoldi’s clever backheel to make it six. Rangers conceded within five minutes of the restart in both halves, further highlighting their defensive disarray. The hosts eased off in the closing stages, sparing the visitors from an even greater humiliation, but the damage was already beyond repair.
This result adds to the catalogue of Rangers’ heaviest European defeats, comparable only to the 6-0 loss against Real Madrid in 1960 and the infamous 7-1 collapse against Liverpool in 2022. For a club of such stature, the scale of the humiliation will not be easily forgotten.
Martin admitted it was one of the toughest nights of his managerial career, urging his squad to accept the pain and use it as fuel ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm derby. Yet, with new ownership already watching closely, his future hangs precariously. Rangers’ lack of cohesion, fragile mentality, and inexperience on the European stage have left supporters questioning whether the rebuild under Martin has any solid foundation.
For Brugge, the emphatic victory reinforced the growing reputation of Belgian football on the continental stage, with standout displays from Vanaken and Tzolis underlining their ambitions for another deep run in Europe.
