Champions League play-offs: Club Brugge vs Rangers facts

Club Brugge are in control of their UEFA Champions League play-off as they welcome Rangers holding a 3-1 lead.

Last match

Goals from Romeo Vermant, Jorne Spileers and Brandon Mechele in the first 20 minutes gave the Belgian side a first-leg victory, Danilo Pereira replying for Rangers.

The teams' only previous European fixtures were in the inaugural Champions League group stage in 1992/93, a 1-1 draw in Belgium followed by a 2-1 home win for Rangers.

Rangers and Club Brugge met last month in an Ibrox friendly, the hosts recovering from conceding two goals inside the first 15 minutes to draw 2-2.

Club Brugge's only other European fixture against a Scottish team was a 1-1 draw at Celtic in last season's Champions League.

Rangers' away record against Belgian teams is W3 D1 L2.

Club Brugge

Club Brugge have participated in the Champions League proper in seven of the last nine seasons, and 11 times overall.

Blauw-Zwart reached the round of 16 last season, losing 1-6 on aggregate against Aston Villa.

The Belgian side's last play-off came in 2019/20, when they reached the group stage with a 3-1 aggregate victory against LASK (1-0 a, 2-1 h). That made their record at this stage W1 L1.

Rangers

Rangers are aiming to reach the Champions League proper for the first time since 2022/23, their 11th appearance but the only one in the last 14 seasons.

Rangers had qualified via a 3-2 aggregate play-off victory against PSV Eindhoven. Their last appearance at this stage was the following season when they lost 3-7 against the same opponents; those are their only previous play-offs.

Last season the Gers lost 1-3 on aggregate to Dynamo Kyiv in the third qualifying round, going on to reach the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.

Key stats

Club Brugge were 4-2 victors against Salzburg in this season's third qualifying round, winning 1-0 away and 3-2 at home, when they came from 0-2 down.

The Belgian side have won six of their last seven qualifiers (D1) and have lost only two of their 18 home qualifiers (W12 D4).

Rangers kicked off this season in the second qualifying round, beating Panathinaikos 3-1 (2-0 h, 1-1 a) before a 4-2 victory against Viktoria Plzeň (3-0 h, 1-2 a).

The Gers have won only one of their last 21 away Champions League matches (D8 L12).

Penalty shoot-outs

Club Brugge's record in four UEFA shoot-outs is W4 L0:
4-1 v Shakhtar Donetsk, 2002/03 Champions League third qualifying round
4-2 v Borussia Dortmund, 2003/04 Champions League third qualifying round
4-3 v Vålerenga, 2005/06 Champions League third qualifying round
4-3 v Lech Poznań, 2009/10 Europa League qualifying play-off

Rangers' record in six UEFA shoot-outs is W4 L2:
1-3 v Borussia Dortmund, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round
4-3 v Paris Saint-Germain, 2001/02 UEFA Cup third round
4-2 v Marítimo, 2004/05 UEFA Cup first round
4-2 v Fiorentina, 2007/08 UEFA Cup semi-final
4-5 v Eintracht Frankfurt, 2021/22 Europa League final
3-2 v Fenerbahçe, 2024/25 Europa League round of 16