Should Walter Smith's side progress at the expense of the Portuguese they would face PSV Eindhoven or Fiorentina for a place in the final. The first leg of the quarter-final will take place at Ibrox on Thursday 3 April, with the return leg in Lisbon seven days later. Rangers chief executive Martin Bain said: "We have nothing to fear and it's all about enjoying it." The Ibrox club secured their place in the last eight after defeating German outfit Werder Bremen 2-1 on aggregate. And Bain said Rangers were confident of going further in the tournament.
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That was the best draw we could hope for Gersland "Sporting are a club with a decent heritage and I'm sure Walter Smith will be taking them extremely seriously," he said. "At this stage of the competition, all the teams are of a level, but we have had a good European campaign. "We came up against the best team in the Champions League and narrowly missed out on qualification.
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Rangers 2-0 Werder Bremen By Colin Moffat Daniel Cousin celebrates opening the scoring at Ibrox
Cousin jumps for joy after giving Rangers the lead at Ibrox
Rangers will take a healthy Uefa Cup lead to Germany after a night to forget for Werder Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese. The keeper pushed a swerving, 35-yard shot from Daniel Cousin into his own net at the end of the first half. And Steven Davis capitalised on another Wiese error early in the second half, knocking the ball home after Cousin's strike was pushed into his path. Rangers substitute Lee McCulloch missed a great late chance when he was tackled just a few yards from an empty goal. Highlights: Rangers v Werder Bremen
Interview: Rangers captain Barry Ferguson
Interview: Rangers manager Walter Smith Ibrox manager Walter Smith once again opted for a cautious approach, fielding Cousin as a lone striker and using Christian Dailly and Brahim Hemdani as a double midfield ancho
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Rangers' hopes of a switch of date for their Uefa Cup away leg at Werder Bremen have been dashed. Rangers meet Dundee United in the CIS Insurance Cup final on Sunday 16 March and had wanted to play the last-16 tie against the Germans on the Wednesday. However, Bremen have arranged the match for the Thursday to suit their television coverage deal. Therefore, the evening game will kick off less than 72 hours before Rangers line up at Hampden Park. |
By Julian Taylor Barcelona ended Celtic's formidable home European record with a deserved, hard-fought win in Glasgow. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink put Celtic in front in 15 minutes with a powerful header only for Lionel Messi to clip home an equaliser three minutes later. Barry Robson burst forward to loop a header over Victor Valdes to give battling Celtic an interval lead. Barca levelled through Thierry Henry, before dominating the second half, and Messi tucked in a 79th minute winner. Celtic - who had won their last three Champions League home matches - included Paul Caddis and Robson for their Champions League debuts. Caddis appeared in place of the cup-tied Andreas Hinkel, while Robson replaced the suspended Scott Brown in midfield. Paul Hartley was also included in the starting line-up at the expense of Massimo Donati. Ronaldinho and Messi both started for Barcelona and Samuel Eto'o was named among the substitutes. The Catalan giants, the last s
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Barcelona's Deco Deco has good memories of facing Celtic Venue: Celtic Park
Date: Wed 20 Feb
Round: Last 16
Kick-off: 1945 GMT
BBC coverage: BBC Radio Scotland & BBC Radio 5 Live Barcelona midfielder Deco does not think Celtic will be as defensive as Rangers when the teams meet in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Catalans played the Ibrox men twice in the group stages, drawing 0-0 in Glasgow before winning the return 2-0. But Portuguese playmaker Deco says Celtic are better than their Old Firm rivals. "Celtic are a stronger team than Rangers, they will take more risks when going forward," he said. Celtic knocked Barca out of the Uefa Cup in 2004 and held the La Liga side on their own patch in the Champions League the following season.
We have come here to win and as long as we control the ball then we will be fine Barcelona midfielder Deco But that same season, Deco scored Barcelona goal in a 3-1 victor
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Barcelona striker Thierry Henry Henry & co have been winning the hard way this season "At the moment we're showing heart to get through matches." Scots are well used to their football described in terms of 'heart', 'grit' and 'fight'. However, these are the words not of Gordon Strachan, Walter Smith or Jimmy Calderwood, but of Thierry Henry. The phrase 'winning ugly' is not normally a characteristic associated with one of Europe's most gifted teams. Yet the French striker felt this best summed up his Barcelona team's way of grinding out narrow victories this year in La Liga. The Catalans are only five points behind great rivals Real Madrid, but are eking out some unconvincing wins. The Spanish press writes of the current team's 'great lack of goals', and the sublimely talented Lionel Messi has yet to break his duck in 2008. But their public is ambivalent as to whether the title is already a lost cause, especially because of the way they are und
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[CENTER]  [/CENTER] Full match coverage of the UEFA Cup, round of 32 - 1st Leg match between Aberdeen and Bayern Munchen. Played on 14th February 2008 at Pittodrie Stadium. 1st Half Screens (clickable):   
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Venue: Pittodrie Date: Thurs 14 Feb Round: Last 32 Kick-off: 1800 GMT BBC coverage: Live on BBC Two Scotland, BBC Radio Scotland 810mw, BBC Sport website & BBC Radio Five Live Uefa Cup
Aberdeen have been given a boost with the news that Zander Diamond, Barry Nicholson, Andrew Considine and Darren Mackie have been passed fit. Richie Byrne, Richard Foster, Jackie McNamara, Derek Young and Jamie Smith, however, will all miss the last 32 tie. Ottmar Hitzfeld's side, currently Bundesliga leaders, visit Pittodrie minus Franck Ribery, Willy Sagnol, Mark van Bommel and Daniel van Buyten. Christian Lell and Andreas Ottl are likely starters for Bayern. The Dons face a stern task against the Bavarian outfit, having lost their last two domestic games, conceding nine goals. Aberdeen squad (from): Langfield, Diamond, Considine, Mair, Bus, Maybury, D Smith, Touzani, Duff, Nicholson, Severin, Walker, Aluko, Miller, De Visscher, Maguire, Lovell
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Rangers defender David Weir The experience of Weir will be crucial to Rangers at the back David Weir reckons keeping a clean sheet against Panathinaikos is the key to Rangers progressing in the Uefa Cup. The Ibrox defender insists his side must stretch their run of six games without conceding if they are to make it to the last 16 of the competition. Weir said: "Panathinaikos obviously know how valuable goals are and they will be coming here looking for goals. "The Aberdeen game showed that they are a quality team and that we will have to show them respect." The Greek side scored three times without reply when they met the Dons in Athens earlier in the tournament. "We know it's going to be a tough game and we know we have to perform on the night and over the two legs to progress," added Weir. Meanwhile, Fifa will not make a decision on Daniel Cousin's move to Fulham until next week, meaning the striker is now available for selection. The propose
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