Rangers suffer calamitous loss to part-timers in Europa League qualifier

Scottish giants Rangers fell to their knees in a first-round Europa League qualifier Tuesday, losing 2-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate to a team of part-time players from Luxembourg.

The defeat to Progres Niederkorn is arguably one of the worst results in Rangers' history.

"It was a shambles of a performance," former Rangers midfielder Alex Rae told the BBC. "The scrutiny that will come on (manager) Pedro Caixinha will now be tenfold. Wait until they are playing in front of 50,000 fans in coming weeks. The pressure will be on the players."

Progres, the fourth-place finisher in Luxembourg's top flight last season, had only scored once before in European competition and failed to win any previous continental clashes.

It couldn't even host Tuesday's match at its own stadium, which holds 4,000 people, because demand was too high.

Meanwhile, Rangers had to wait six years to return to European competition - a consequence of going bankrupt and restarting in Scotland's fourth tier.

And their first experience was one they won't soon forget.

Goals from lower-tier journeyman Emmanuel Francoise and Sebastien Thill were enough to condemn Rangers. Luck was not with the visitor, as Caixinha's side hit the bar three times.