UEL: Ferencvaros Edge Rangers 2-1, Denting Scottish Club's Europa League Hopes

Rangers' Europa League campaign in doubt after 2-1 loss to Ferencvaros

Ferencvaros beat Rangers 2-1, with Barnabas Varga scoring the winner to keep his side's top-eight hopes alive.

Undeterred, Ferencvaros continued to control proceedings in the second period...

Rangers' Europa League hopes are fading fast after a 2-1 loss to Ferencvaros. The Hungarian side's unbeaten record continues, and they're eyeing a top-eight finish. Rangers had a shaky first half, but it was they who took the lead through Bojan Miovski's acrobatic shot.

The North Macedonia international's goal was initially flagged offside, but VAR review confirmed he was onside, and he celebrated his third goal in two matches.

After being pushed onto the back foot, Ferencvaros created a golden opportunity for Bamidele Yusuf to quickly restore parity, but the forward fluffed his lines as he lashed his shot into the side-netting.

In contrast to his teammate, Bence Otvos showed great composure in front of goal when the chance presented itself to level in the final seconds of the first period. A slick move created the space for Ibrahim Cisse to cutback for Otvos to sweep past Jack Butland with the aid of a slight deflection.

Full-Time in Budapest

Ferencváros 2 - 1 Rangers | #UEL pic.twitter.com/vZPEVbYflo

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) December 11, 2025

Buoyed by their leveller, Robbie Keane’s charges threatened to complete the turnaround within five minutes of the restart when Barnabas Varga raced into the box, only to be thwarted by Nasser Djiga’s excellent last-ditch tackle.

Undeterred, Ferencvaros continued to control proceedings in the second period, and their persistence in the final third eventually told with less than 20 minutes to play in regulation time.

Varga took advantage of some lax defending at the far post to head in from Callum O'Dowda’s deep cross to net the 20th goal of his prolific campaign.

Boasting a narrow advantage, the home side required their goalkeeper to make a superb diving stop to prevent Findlay Curtis’ deflected effort from finding the net in the closing stages.

That late attempt proved to be Rangers’s best chance of the half as the visitors slumped to their fifth defeat of a hopeless league phase, with their elimination all but confirmed.