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Rangers suffered another late collapse against Benfica as Steven Gerrard’s team missed the chance to set foot in the last 32 of the Europa League. They appeared to be on their way to a famous scalp in what would have been the Ibrox club’s 150th European win after Scott Arfield and Kemar Roofe put them ahead.
But just as they did in Lisbon three weeks ago, Rangers could not maintain their lead and were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw. Jorge Jesús’ substitutions made the difference as Gonçalo Ramos and Pizzi got off the bench to snatch a point with two goals in three minutes.
Rangers needed to beat Benfica and hope Standard Liège would do the same with Lech Poznan to seal their place in the knockout rounds with two games to play. While the Belgians kept their end of the bargain by beating the Poles, the Rangers failed. However, they can still achieve qualification by beating Liege when they visit Ibrox next Thursday.
Naples beat the croatian side Rijeka 2-0 in his first game since the death of Diego Maradona, the club’s greatest and most popular player.
On a night full of emotions, Napoli took the field with the number 10 shirt with Maradona’s name stamped on the back, while a photograph of the Argentine watched from the electronic scoreboard.
Posters with images of Maradona, who led Napoli to two Serie A titles over seven extraordinary seasons in the 1980s, were posted around the San Paolo stadium.
“Since yesterday, when we went to the hotel, you could tell that the city had taken over a different state of mind,” said Napoli manager Gennaro Gattuso. “It was a great loss, but Diego will never die. He is a legend, from another planet ”.
Although spectators were not allowed on the ground, fans gathered outside singing “Diego, Diego” and other hymns. Hundreds of blue and white Napoli scarves were tied to railings and flowers, children’s pictures, church candles and even a bottle of wine were placed along the sidewalk in a makeshift shrine.
Napoli dominated and created several chances before Rijeka side Armando Anastasio, pressured by Matteo Politano, converted Piotr Zielinski’s shot into his own goal five minutes before the break.
Hirving Lozano secured the score in the 75th minute, controlling Lorenzo Insigne’s pass before passing the ball to Ivan Nevistic to leave Napoli at the top of Group F with nine points from four games, two ahead of AZ Alkmaar and Real Sociedad. .
The leaders of Serie A Milan They led to a 1-1 draw by Little after a well-worked goal from Jonathan Bamba nullified Samu Castillejo’s effort. The result leaves Lille with eight points at the top of Group H, one point ahead of Milan with two more games to play. Qualification is not yet assured after Sparta Prague rose to six points with the win over Celtic.
Rome secured Group A qualification with a 2-0 win in CFR Cluj from Romania, thanks to an own goal and a penalty from Jordan Veretout.
