Rangers Crash Out to Jablonec on Penalties, Left Without European Football Before August Ends

A missed penalty and a tie that slipped away. That sums up what happened to Rangers across two legs against Jablonec, a Czech side that arrived without much fanfare at the final qualifying round of the Conference League and ended up leaving the Scottish club without European football before August was even over.

The Glasgow side had done the dirty work in the first leg, grinding out a narrow 1-0 win. It looked like enough to see out the return leg with something to spare. But soccer has a way of turning on you: Jablonec flipped the aggregate score with another 1-0 on their own turf, forced the tie to a penalty shootout, and there, in the lottery from twelve yards, sealed the upset with a decisive 4-3.

The elimination leaves Rangers without continental competition before August ends for the first time since 2017, when they fell in the first qualifying round of the Europa League to Luxembourg's Progrès Niederkorn, a blow that also set off alarm bells at Ibrox at the time.

McInnes' Self-Criticism

Derek McInnes, in his first season in charge of the club, didn't look for excuses after the match. The manager was blunt when discussing his players' level and took responsibility for what happened.

I'm really embarrassed by this. We should be winning this tie, there's no two ways about it. I'm embarrassed by the fact that we should be performing so much better. It's not easy for me to say this, because I'm here to help my players. I want my players to be so much better than they were tonight.Derek McInnes

The manager also addressed the penalty shootout directly, an outcome often chalked up to pure chance, but one he preferred to frame within the context of the whole tie.

The best players can miss penalties, but we had more than enough time to get through this tie. The responsibility is shared tonight, but I'm responsible for bringing a better performance than the one we showed today. And that's why I'm embarrassed. I'm really disappointed that we're out of Europe.Derek McInnes

This setback comes just days after another blow for Scottish football: Celtic, the reigning champions, were eliminated from Champions League qualifying by Austria's LASK, after blowing a 4-0 aggregate lead within the first half hour of the second leg. Five unanswered goals, the last one in extra time, sent Celtic to repeat, for the second year running, the frustration of missing out on Europe's top competition despite having the tie seemingly wrapped up. The year before, in fact, Celtic themselves had already been eliminated by Kairat Almaty on penalties.

For Rangers, the blow comes on top of having already been eliminated by Poland's Jagiellonia Bialystok in Europa League qualifying, leaving the club with no margin for error for the rest of the season in domestic competition.

McInnes is already looking ahead, though he isn't hiding how tough the moment is.

It's about working to put in better performances and trying to win football matches. But we were miles off, and we have to be completely honest about that.Derek McInnes