Rangers 0 - 0 Sporting Lisbon

Rangers 0-0 Sporting Lisbon

Updated: April 3, 2008, 9:58 PM UK

Rangers' dreams of European glory this season took a knock when they drew 0-0 against Sporting Lisbon in their UEFA Cup quarter-final first-leg clash at Ibrox.

The Portuguese outfit proved to be as difficult to subdue as expected and the tie remains very much in the balance after both teams failed to find the back of the net in the first leg.

• Gers still confident of progress

Rangers now face the daunting task of travelling to Lisbon next week hoping to seal a meeting with Fiorentina or PSV Eindhoven in the semi-finals, as they attempt to maintain an impressive bid for four trophies this season.

Gers fans seeking lucky omens would have been thrilled to see Rangers paired with Sporting in the quarter-final draw.

The only other meeting between the two clubs came en route to the Glasgow giants' greatest achievement in Europe, lifting the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972.

Fans of statistics would also point out that Rangers had won all five previous encounters with Portuguese opposition at Ibrox ahead of tonight's game.

Sasa Papac and Brahim Hemdani both started, meaning Steven Whittaker and Christian Dailly were dropped to the bench. Old Firm hero Kevin Thomson also made the starting line-up after recovering from the shin injury sustained against Celtic.

There was concern for Sporting in the opening minutes when David Weir accidentally stamped on Liedson's Achilles and the Brazilian left the pitch on a stretcher - but the club's star man was back in action within two minutes.

Rangers were forced to defend deep early on but a pacy and powerful run from Jean-Claude Darcheville caused all sorts of problems before he eventually ran into a wall of green and white jerseys.

The ball broke to Lee McCulloch who failed to cause Rui Patricio much concern in the Sporting goal with a 50-yard strike.

Liedson - the club's top scorer in Europe this season with six goals - then had a go at the other end only to be denied by Papac who took no chances by hooking the ball to safety.

Barry Ferguson picked up the first booking of the game for an innocuous-looking challenge on fellow skipper Joao Moutinho. Like Liedson, he was also carried off only to make a quick recovery as howls of derision rang around the stadium.

Those jeers were replaced by cheers of encouragement when the man dubbed 'the Rocket' exploded down the right flank towards the Sporting goal. Darcheville cut into the six-yard box but found himself with no support in the goalmouth and his flick from the tightest of angles was deflected over by Rui Patricio.

Simon Vukcevic was fortunate to escape a booking for simulation after throwing himself to the ground just outside the box but team-mate Marat Izmailov was cautioned moments later for a foul on Ferguson. He would later be joined in the referee's book by team-mate Liedson.

Kirk Broadfoot then earned a free-kick for Rangers a few yards outside the area after being hacked down by Leandro Grimi. The set-piece was taken quickly by Ferguson, who slipped the ball through to Steven Davis - but his shot was blocked by Grimi.

With the half-time whistle beckoning, McCulloch had two good chances to hand Rangers the advantage, firstly forcing Patricio to dive low to his right to parry a 35-yard drive before seeing his header deflected inches past the post from a Davis ball into the box.

Davis screwed a shot wide from 25 yards at the start of the second half, before the visitors started to impose themselves on the game more.

Grimi collected from Liedson before being allowed to embark on a run of all of 70 yards before testing Allan McGregor in the Rangers goal. A miskicked effort then bobbled past the Rangers defence before shaving the goalkeeper's left-hand post.

Darcheville maintained his incredible record of never having completed a full match for Rangers when he was withdrawn after 71 minutes to make way for Nacho Novo.

Rangers pushed forward in search of a winner and Ferguson was not far away when he hooked over his shoulder and just wide, with Novo loitering just out of reach to knock home.

Leandro Romagnoli and Liedson came close in the dying minutes for Sporting - but the clash ended all square, leaving both teams with everything to play for in the second leg next Thursday, although the Gers will be without Weir for the second leg after he was booked late on.

Gers still confident of progress

Walter Smith has backed Rangers to fire themselves into the last four of the UEFA Cup, despite being held to a goalless draw by Sporting Lisbon at Ibrox tonight.

The quarter-final tie remains firmly in the balance, after a first leg which produced no goals and few chances.

Rangers face a daunting prospect in Lisbon, but Smith sees no reason why his players cannot produce the goods next Thursday.

His confidence is backed up by away goals in the Champions League against FK Zeta, Lyon and Stuttgart - as well as Panathinaikos in the UEFA Cup.

'The away game will be along similar lines to tonight's tie. I think it will be quite close,' he predicted.

'But we have shown that we can go away from home and score goals - and we would hope that we manage to do so next week.

'It wasn't just in Panathinaikos. We have also managed to get goals in Stuttgart and Lyon, and in Zeta in the early part of the qualifying games.'

Rangers have been rock solid defensively this season but must cope with the loss of David Weir for the second leg, after the veteran centre-half picked up a booking for a late foul on Liedson which rules him out of the trip to Lisbon.

Smith added: 'Obviously we are disappointed to lose Davie, but we have no complaints about the booking.

'We just have to face up to the fact that we lose him.'

The aspect of the game which did disappoint Smith was the lack of cutting edge in attack from Rangers tonight.

Lee McCulloch, Steven Davis and Barry Ferguson all had half-chances - but Rui Patricio was never really troubled in the Sporting goal.

'Overall, I don't think we can argue with the result,' said the Rangers boss.

'There weren't many clear-cut opportunities for either team.

'There was frustration, because I felt we didn't play as well tonight as we have done in the other European games.

'I'm a little bit disappointed we didn't test the goalie more. But I always felt it was going to be a tight game, and there were very few opportunities for either team.'

Sporting coach Paulo Bento believes both teams still have an equal chance of progressing to a last-four meeting with Fiorentina or PSV Eindhoven, who drew 1-1 in Italy tonight.

He said: 'Our objective is always to win the match. Rangers played well and were very strong defensively.

'In the next match at home we will have to play well for 90 minutes. It is still 50-50 for each team to go through.'

Sporting overcame Bolton 2-1 on aggregate in the last round, and Bento added: 'The game with Bolton was a different type of game - here they play more direct football.

'The result in the first game with Bolton was much better, but we have to be confident for the next game with Rangers.

'Technically and tactically we were better - and we just need to hold our emotions for the next game and not get carried away.'