Giovanni Van Bronckhorst got off to a perfect start as Rangers manager as a 2-0 win over Sparta Prague secured their place in the last 32 of the Europa League, while Leicester edged towards the knockout stages with a 3-1 win over Legia Warsaw.

But Celtic’s chances of progress were ended by a late Bayer Leverkusen rally from 2-1 down to win 3-2 in Germany.

Real Betis, Lazio, Monaco, Galatasaray and Olympiakos also qualified for the knockout stages on Thursday.

Van Bronckhorst watched on from the stands as Rangers suffered a shock 3-1 defeat to Hibernian in Sunday’s Scottish League Cup semi-final.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

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