Rangers outdo Celtic with Champions League failure par excellence as Russell Martin era sinks to 65-year low

They exited with almost impressive incompetence. It was failure par excellence. It was a masterpiece in how not to deal with a second leg assignment that required discipline and defensive know-how. It was, well, unforgivable, even with ten men. Can there be any way back for Russell Martin, who was targeted – again – by Rangers fans in the away end? What are Barry Ferguson’s plans for the Old Firm game on Sunday?

The final insult was German referee Felix Zwayer blowing his final whistle dead on 90 minutes. Everyone had seen enough. Maybe even the Rangers hierarchy?

One consolation is that Rangers didn’t have the kind of epic journey home to endure like rivals Celtic. Bruges, by comparison, is a short hop, skip and a jump away. There was, though, considerable distance between the teams as well as an embarrassing margin of scoreline. When Zwayer blew for half-time, with Rangers already five down, it was a mercy. Martin puffed out his cheeks and headed into the dressing room.

Fans of non-Old Firm teams in Scotland are used to seeing their own teams suffer like this at the hands of Rangers and Celtic but this was a new one, with Brugge ripping the visitors apart to the extent they scored three times in the five minutes before the interval.

Goalkeeper Jack Butland had already saved them several times, with one finger-tip save onto the bar from the almost unplayable Christos Tzolis falling in the breathtaking category. It could have been double figures, literally. It was historic. The 9-1 aggregate defeat equalled their worst-ever such European loss, which came as long ago as 1960 – 12-4 against Eintracht Frankfurt. Some relief was sourced in the fact Brugge only scored once more after half time.

Martin’s hope that Rangers could build on an what he claimed was a “fantastic” second-half performance last week lasted around five minutes, which was still longer than they managed to keep the Belgians out at Ibrox. A well-worked goal the opener might have been, yet it raised further questions about not only recruitment but also Martin’s personnel choices.

Max Aarons, continuing at right-back in place of club captain James Tavernier, and Oliver Antman were flummoxed by Joaquin Seys’ movement and the left wing-back’s cross was met by a flying header from Nicolo Tresoldi, with Nasser Djiga all at sea and Jayden Meghoma showing all the positional sense of a teenager who might be promising but is as raw as they come.

He was hunted down once more by Carlos Forbs almost from kick-off and had found his way into the referee’s book for a foul on the winger even before Brugge took the lead, just five minutes and 20 seconds in. Two minutes later, it was all over, if it was ever on. A simple ball over the top from way back in the Brugge half speared Rangers, for whom Aarons was the only player covering. He was shown a clean pair of heels by Tzolis with the Rangers full-back resorting to hauling him down by grabbing his shirt. The red card was inevitable.

Rangers’ longest night

Just 12 minutes in, Lyall Cameron had to resort to simply punting the ball up the park in the knowledge it would grant his side a few seconds’ reprieve. Tavernier was already on by this point, with Antman sacrificed. It was going to be a long night. Perhaps Rangers’ longest.

A brilliant save by Butland from Aleksandar Stankovic turned into an assist of sorts. Well, it required just one more hit of the ball, from the corner flag by Tzolis, before Vanaken powered into the net with his head. He didn’t have to do much to overcome Danilo’s challenge. Seys, who has just turned 20, made it 3-0 after turning in the rebound following another fine save from Butland. In between times, Vanakan had hit the woodwork. Brugge kept coming.

Seys scored again four minutes before the break with a volley and then Stankovic headed home a fifth on the stroke of half-time following a cross from the excellent Vanakan although it did not need to be laced with menace to pierce the Rangers rearguard. Stankovic simply needed to guide the ball in with his head having broken free.

Half time saw Joe Rothwell, Thelo Aasgaard and Gassama stay inside, with Mohamed Diomande, Nico Raskin and Findlay Curtis coming on. Brugge scored their sixth just five minutes after the re-start following another driving run from Tziolis and a backheel from Tresoldi. On receiving the ball back from Tresoldi, the Greek star expertly curled in off the far post.

Remarkably, that was where the scoring ended. There was still one more dagger to the heart for Rangers fans to observe. Even before the final whistle, Brugge manager Nicky Hayen approached Martin, gave him a hug and then whispered some words in his ear. Old pals from their time together in Wales, no one could doubt the sincerity of the gesture.

Still, following murder on the pitch, it was pathos on the touchline and made things seem even worse for Martin.