Rangers will have to settle for a place in the Uefa Cup after they were beaten 3-0 by Lyon at Ibrox.
Govou and Benzema see Lyon progress to the last 16
Rangers will have to settle for a place in the Uefa Cup after they were beaten 3-0 by Lyon at Ibrox.
Sidney Govou opened the scoring for the French champions after just 16 minutes, when Karim Benzema's low cross from the right was only parried by Allan McGregor straight to his feet and he could not miss from six yards out.
Rangers enjoyed a lot of possession and pushed hard for a breakthrough, but could not find a way past a nervous looking Remy Vercoutre in the Lyon goal.
Jean-Claude Darcheville missed a glorious opportunity to pull Rangers level on 80 minutes, but he somehow sliced the ball over from less than six yards out after good work down the right from Barry Ferguson.
Then with just five minutes remaining Karim Benzema booked his side's place in the last 16 when he got in behind the Rangers defence and coolly slotted the ball through the legs of the onrushing McGregor.
The French international then made absolutely sure of the result when he got the third just a minute later. The Rangers defence gave him time to turn in midfield, and after creating himself a yard to the side of David Weir he fired the ball into the far corner from 20 yards out.
As the game entered stoppage-time, Darcheville completed a miserable night for Rangers when he was sent off for a petulant kick on Kim Kallstrom.
The French champions should have snatched the advantage in the opening minutes by capitalising on sloppy defending within the Rangers ranks.
Sigh of relief
Govou nipped in front of Alan Hutton to collect a perfect pass from Juninho but Ibrox breathed a collective sigh of relief when he rifled into the side-netting.
Juninho then struck a free-kick well enough, but McGregor did well to dive low to his left and turn the effort past the post.
Unfortunately for the Glasgow giants, McGregor was left plucking the ball out of the net with 16 minutes gone.
Juninho started the move and Benzema - looking every inch the star of the future he is tipped to be - drove at goal. McGregor's attempts to clear the danger failed hopelessly as he parried straight to the feet of Govou.
This time there was no mistake from the French striker, who fired into the roof of the net from 10 yards with the Rangers keeper prostrate.
Rangers looked rattled but composed themselves to create their first real chance on goal. Steven Whittaker's ferocious long-range shot drew a block from goalkeeper Vercoutre, who then smothered the rebound from Sasa Papac.
As the game raced towards the interval with Rangers still trailing, there was a half-hearted shout for handball when a Lee McCulloch effort came off Sebastien Squillaci but any claims for a penalty were ignored by referee Lubos Michel.
Rangers emerged for the second half looking far hungrier and should have restored parity within four minutes. A cross from Hutton sailed over Vercoutre and looked netbound before Francois Clerc managed to nod off the line and Whittaker's rebound flashed inches wide.
At the other end, only the woodwork prevented Lyon from adding to their tally. Carlos Cuellar was cautioned for a clumsy challenge on Jeremy Toulalan and McGregor was a mere spectator as Juninho's free-kick crashed off the crossbar.
Squandered
Thomson squandered a great opportunity to haul Rangers back into the game when he collected the ball on the edge of the 18-yard box and drilled wide.
With 20 minutes to go, Rangers threw caution to the wind when Papac was sacrificed for Darcheville as they chased the goal that would keep their Champions League dream alive.
Instead, it was Lyon who almost scored. Benzema rounded McGregor, pulled the trigger, and was shocked to see Whittaker on the line to make the clearance before the Rangers goalkeeper recovered to smother a second attempt from the France international.
Then came the moment that will no doubt haunt Darcheville for the remainder of his career.
A superb ball from Barry Ferguson teed up the shot three yards from goal but the Gers striker somehow hit the ball against the crossbar and over when it looked so much easier to score.
With six minutes to go the stuffing was knocked out of Rangers. A free-kick lobbed into the box was pounced upon by Benzema who slotted between the legs of McGregor from 15 yards, before helping himself to his second of the night three minutes later with a shot from the edge of the box.
Rangers' misery was compounded when Darcheville was shown a straight red at the death for stamping on Kallstrom.
| Rangers |
Team Statistics |
Lyon |
| 0 |
Goals |
3 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 7 |
Corners |
3 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
18 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 78.6 |
Passing Success |
75.8 |
| 18 |
Tackles |
14 |
| 72.2 |
Tackles Success |
85.7 |
| 60.2 |
Possession |
39.8 |
| 55.2 |
Territorial Advantage |
44.8 |
|
