Scottish football's double disaster in the Champions League

The 2025/26 Champions League officially ends with Scottish representatives right from the play-off round.

Rangers were defeated in Belgium.

After Celtic fell, it was Rangers' turn to be crushed by Club Brugge, ending a season to forget for Scottish football.

In the early morning of August 28, Rangers traveled to Belgium with an impossible task: to overturn a 1-3 first-leg defeat. But instead of a miracle, they suffered one of the heaviest defeats in their European Cup history.

It took Club Brugge just five minutes to open the scoring through Nicolo Tresoldi, before Maximillian Aarons was sent off in the eighth minute, leaving Rangers 10-11 for the remainder of the match.

Rangers were down a man early on against Club Brugge.

From there, the real disaster began. The home team played brilliantly, while Rangers completely collapsed. In the first half alone, goalkeeper Jack Butland's net shook four more times, turning the match into a nightmare. In the second half, Club Brugge scored another goal to seal a 6-0 victory, closing out the aggregate score of 9-1 after two matches.

This is not only a failure for Rangers but also a big shock for Scottish football. Both Celtic and Rangers - the two biggest icons - cannot participate in the League Phase Champions League this season. Instead, they have to play in the Europa League, a tournament with less glory and a significant decrease in financial income.

The heavy defeat in Belgium not only sounded the alarm about the competitiveness of Scottish clubs, but also raised a big question: when will they be strong enough to return to the elite map of the Champions League?

Source: https://znews.vn/tham-hoa-kep-cua-bong-da-scotland-tai-champions-league-post1580640.html