Glasgow, Scotland (My Sportsbook) - Scottish side Rangers brought in additional reinforcements for the upcoming season.
The additions of Dado Prso and Nacho Novo this offseason still apparently weren't enough, as Rangers failed to make it into group play in the Champions League competition. The Scottish side was eliminated Wednesday after finishing in a 1-1 draw with Russian club CSKA Moscow at Ibrox.
CSKA, which won the first leg in Moscow by a score of 2-1, got the game's first goal from Brazilian striker Vagner Love early in the second half to bury the Light Blues. Rangers did manage a strike by Stephen Thompson in the 88th minute, but it was too little, too late.
Rangers was pretty much the only team upset during third-round qualifying action on Wednesday. Favored powerhouses such as Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSV Eindhoven and Juventus all moved on in the competition.
Juventus was in the biggest need of a victory after earning just a draw at home against Swedish club Djurgarden in the first leg. The traditionally solid Italian club, however, used its star power to post a 4-1 victory in the second leg. David Trezeguet, Alessandro Del Pieri and Pavel Nedved each found the back of the net in the crucial win. Trezeguet scored twice in the contest.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, propelled Real Madrid to a 3-1 win over Poland's Wisla Krakow with a pair of goals; Manchester United used two goals from its newest star Alan Smith to defeat Romania's Dinamo Bucharest, 3-0; and PSV Eindhoven crushed Serbia and Montenegro's Red Star Belgrade, 5-0, behind a pair of strikes from Mark van Bommel. All three winners came into their second-leg matches holding the advantage.
Germany's Bayer Leverkusen was the lone club to advance despite losing in the second leg. They dropped a 2-1 decision to the Czech Republic's Banik Ostrava, but came into the match with a five-goal lead in the aggregate.
Other clubs that moved on were Israeli side Macabbi Tel-Aviv, Ukraine's Dinamo Kyiv and Shakhtar, and the Czech Republic's Sparta Prague.
Macabbi Tel-Aviv won 1-0 over Greece's PAOK, Dinamo Kyiv posted a 2-0 triumph over Turkey's Trabzonspor and Sparta Prague used a 2-0 win in extra time over Hungary's Ferencvaros to enter the group stage. Shakhtar finished in a 2-2 draw with Belgium's Club Brugge but still moved on after an easy first-leg win.
