Club Brugge pulverise 10-man Rangers to heap misery on Russell Martin

The Old Firm derby on Sunday will feature two Europa League teams. If Celtic have deep regrets over misfires in Kazakhstan, Rangers endured a night of historic shame in Belgium, utterly incapable of recovering from their very poor first‑leg performance. Though by contrast to his horror show, that night of blunder was a positively creditable showing.

Russell Martin’s stewardship is in grave danger after 10 games in charge. “It’s probably the toughest night I’ve had as a head coach, it doesn’t change the fact that I think we will progress, move forward and grow,” he said.

The response of the club’s new ownership, for whom Martin is the first managerial appointment, is keenly awaited though he said afterwards that a quiet word with Kevin Thelwell and Patrick Stewart had assured him of their continued faith. The depth Rangers plunged down in the first half made a mockery of Martin’s continued self-belief.

“Madness, really,” he offered in explanation. “We apologise to the fans that travelled and the fans back home. There’s not enough harmony or care for each other quite yet. We knew that coming in. We have to build that. That harmony has been disrupted for sure.”

His starting team selection, including eight summer signings, had been short on European experience. Looking ahead to a derby where both Glasgow’s giants’ managers enter under dark clouds, Martin said: “The only thing we can do tonight is accept the pain, accept the humiliation, accept the hurt and then use it as fuel.”

Brugge sought to finish the tie quickly. Too easy. In the fifth minute, Nicolo Tresoldi nodded in. To compound early disaster, high farce as the Rangers defender Max Aarons found himself out of position. His solution? Hauling back Christos Tzoli for an indisputable straight red. Martin sent on the benched club captain James Tavernier, attempting to stop the bloodletting with the patient already long dead. “It’s not the standards I want to uphold:” said Tavernier afterwards. “We didn’t represent the club in any good form at all.”

The screw had been ruthlessly turned, Tzolis stuck the woodwork via Jack Butland’s fingertips, Rangers’ goalkeeper was left unprotected throughout. Next, the veteran Hans Vanaken nodded in Tzolis’s corner, before striking the angle with a volley. The left-back Joaquin Seys made it three, then four, twice unmarked at the back post. Aleksandar Stanković’s free header made it five.

For all the sheer dreadfulness of Rangers, Brugge augmented the growing reputation of Belgian club football’s resurgence, echoing their decent showing last season in the group stage and knockouts. After the break, Tzolis, understandably coveted across Europe, swiftly scored the sixth, seizing on Tresoldi’s showboat backheel. Just as in the first half, Rangers were a goal down within five minutes of the whistle.

Infamy loomed. Rangers’ previous club‑record European defeats were 6-0 against Real Madrid in 1960, 7-1 against Liverpool in 2022. Any relief from being the worst of all European nights lay only in Brugge stepping off the pace rather than any Rangers revival. “I don’t think we’ll be beat 6-0 again,” Martin said, severely tempting fate with Sunday calling.