Braga vs. Rangers result & highlights: Ruiz strike leaves Van Bronckhorst's men trailing

Graham Caygill

•
Braga vs. Rangers result & highlights: Ruiz strike leaves Van Bronckhorst's men trailing image

Abel Ruiz added to a miserable week for Rangers as his goal gave Sporting Braga a 1-0 win in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side had seen their Scottish Premiership title defence hopes dented by a 2-1 loss to Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday and they endured another frustrating night in Portugal on Thursday.

Ruiz's goal five minutes before half-time proved the difference as he rifled the ball home from just inside the box after Leon Balogun had misjudged a cross from Iuri Medeiros and allowed it to bounce past him.

Rangers had been fortunate not to be behind by that stage already as Ricardo Horta hit the woodwork and then his brother Andre Horta had a goal ruled out by VAR for a foul in the build-up.

Rangers did improve in the second half but failed to get a shot on target in the 90 minutes with a wayward header from Connor Goldson as close as they would come, leaving them with a lot of work to do ahead of the second leg at Ibrox on April 14.

Scott Arfield remained upbeat that Rangers can reach the last four. The midfielder told BT Sport post-match: "We'll take it back to Ibrox and we're only one behind. We feel we can still win it."

Rangers grateful to have just a one-goal deficit

A 1-0 loss would not have been what Van Bronckhorst and his men would have been hoping for going into the match given the way they had outgunned both Borussia Dortmund and Red Star Belgrade in the previous rounds with swashbuckling first-leg displays.

But after an encouraging start in which Ryan Kent failed to get a shot away after being played in by Arfield and then Fashion Sakala blazed over from the edge of the box, it was Braga who took charge.

Rangers seemed unable to cope with their intricate passing and ability to find space on the flanks.

They were reprieved following Andre Horta's deflected shot, which beat Allan McGregor on his 100th European appearance for Rangers, with the goal disallowed after a VAR review after Fabiano was found to have fouled Ryan Kent in the build-up.

But Ruiz's goal was the least Braga deserved for an impressive first-half display and at that stage Rangers had no answer.

Fashion gamble fails to pay off for Rangers and Van Bronckhorst

It had been clear that Rangers had gone in with a game plan of hurting Braga on the break, but while Sakala and Kent did get behind the home side a few times in the first half, both failed to produce any end product despite getting into good positions.

The arrival of Kemar Roofe gave Rangers the strength and poise they had been lacking and they got a foothold in the match as the second half wore on.

Only available in the UK:

But Van Bronckhorst will be frustrated that Rangers failed to trouble Matheus in the Braga goal in the closing stages and the absence of the injured Alfredo Morelos is looking increasingly costly to their prospects.

Van Bronckhorst left Aaron Ramsey unused on the bench and denied on BT Sport that he had been injured. But the absence of the Welshman was a surprise and he will surely be a central figure in the second leg as Rangers look to come from behind to set up a semi-final against either RB Leipzig or Atalanta, whose own quarter-final is locked at 1-1.

MORE: Is Real Madrid's midfield the best in Champions League history?

Braga vs. Rangers final score

  1H 2H Final
Braga 1 0 1
Rangers 0 0 0

Goals: - Ruiz (Medeiros) - 39th minute

Braga vs. Rangers highlights and commentary

Full-time: It finishes 1-0 and both sides can be content while wishing they had more to show for their efforts. Braga dominated the first half and should have had more than just Ruiz's goal to show for their domination. But Rangers did improve in the second half and produced an improved display to give themselves hope they can overturn their deficit in the second leg at Ibrox on April 14.

88th minute: Rangers can feel aggrieved that Carmo is still on the pitch after he fouls Roofe. He was already on a yellow card and the replay does him no favours for what was poor lunge. But remarkably no second card is forthcoming.

87th minute: This does feel like Braga are shutting up shop and fancying themselves to do the job in Glasgow next week with an one-goal lead. Rangers are coming forward more but still have not had to make Matheus make an actual save. They are running out of time to change that statistic.

82nd minute: Two more changes for Braga, one tactical and one enforced. Andre Horta comes off for Mineiro and Castro replaces Al Musrati.

79th minute: Allan McGregor parries away an Andre Horta effort in his first work in a while. We are coming up to the closing minutes and this is going to be interesting how both sides play this as 1-0 is a good result for Braga and an OK one for Rangers, considering it could have been worse on the balance of the first half. 

75th minute: Rangers have had their spell of play since the opening minutes of the match so it Braga's turn to shake things up as Carvalhal makes two changes. Off goes goalscorer Ruiz and Medeiros with Miguel Fale and Vitor Oliveira on. 

70th minute: Rangers go close to an equaliser in slightly surreal circumstances. Braga's players seem to all stop dead as a corner swings from captain James Tavernier and Connor Goldson is left unmarked at the far post. He has more time then he realises and puts a tame looping header wide when he really should have at least made Matheus make a save.

62nd minute: Like buses you wait ages for a substitute and suddenly three come along at once. Van Bronckhorst makes a triple change as Kemar Roofe, Joe Aribo and Borna Barisic come on for Sakala, Jack and Balogun respectively. But McCoist is still not happy on ITV commentary, stunned that Aaron Ramsey is not one of the new arrivals. And you'd have to say, given the Welshman's history, he has a point.

55th minute: The only real action at the moment is from the crowd with the Rangers fans making a lot of noise as they look to will their side back into this. They haven't had much to cheer to be honest but there is a glimpse of some momentum as Arfield has a shot blocked.

50th minute: Ally McCoist on commentary continues to bang the drum in support of a Rangers substitution and he has a point. Braga are dominating and right now a 1-0 defeat is not a bad result considering the Scottish champions are struggling to get out of their own half at the moment.

46th minute: We are back underway. No changes for either sides and the BT Sport pundits are surprised to say the least it is unchanged for Rangers after they faded as the first half wore on.

Half-time: Braga go in with a 1-0 lead and it is deserved. Rangers started well and the pace of their forward line caused the hosts problem. But once Braga found their range they seemed to find space at will on the flanks and arguably Rangers are doing well to be only one down. A big team talk ahead for Van Bronckhurst to try and get his side back in the match in the second half. See you in 15 minutes for the second half.

39th minute: GOAL!!!! Ruiz!
It is deserved on the balance of play as Braga finally get the lead after hitting the post previously and having a goal disallowed. But it isn't one that Leon Balogun will want to see. He fails to deal with a cross that comes in from the right from Iuri Medeiros and the ball finds its way to Luiz, who rifles the ball home from just inside the box.

35th minute: Ryan Jack is the second player in the book, and the first Rangers player, after leaving referee Massa unimpressed with a late lunge. To cap things off Jack looks to come off worst from his own foul and is limping.

32nd minute: After a bright start Rangers have been under the cosh from Braga and are fortunate to be still level. The counter-attack looks Van Bronckhurst side's best bet of a goal and Kent gets clear from a ball over the top but Braga get numbers back to deal with it. But moments later Kent finds Sakala in space but he blazes over to leave Ally McCoist on BT Sport commentary bemoaning his rushed finish.

25th minute: Rangers really are riding their luck here. Andre Horta finds the net from close range with a shot deflected off James Tavernier. But the goal is ruled out by VAR review after referee Davide Massa looks at a replay after Ryan Jack is found to have been caught by Fabiano in the build-up.

24th minute: Huge let off for Rangers. They allow Couto's cross to go across the area dangerously and then fail to clear the following melee and Ricardo Horta hits the post from close range.

21st minute: First booking of the night as David Carmo hauls down Kamara as Rangers looked to break. Having to play 70 minutes on a caution against a very quick attack does not look an appetising prospect for Carmo.

18th minute: There might have been a few eyes raised about Sakala getting the nod upfront in place of Kemar Roofe but it is not hard to see what Van Bronckhurst had in mind. Three times now he has got behind the Braga backline on the flanks and he is proving a real handful, if yet with no end product.

14th minute: Credit to the Braga fans who are making an absolute din in the grandstand facing the two benches. This has been a bright start to the match in terms of attacking intent from both sides but the fans are really adding to the occasion.

8th minute: Now this wasn't in the plans for Carvalhal. Goalkeeper Matheus has gone down clutching the back of his leg and has possibly strained something in that goalmouth scramble he inadvertently instigated. He gives a thumbs up but his body language is not convincing to say the least.

4th minute: Rangers almost in. Kent is found on the edge of the area by Scott Arfield after a poor clearance by Braga goalkeeper Matheus and his first touch lets him down as Matheus is able to redeem himself by blocking the ball and it eventually goes behind after a scramble.

2nd minute: We are underway. Both sides are looking to exploit space on the flanks and Ryan Kent looks like he might be in early for Rangers on the right but loses his footing and Braga clear the danger.

4 minutes to KO: The teams are out and we're almost set to get going. To be fair the stands had looked a little empty just a few moments ago, but Carvalhal had joked in his interview the Portuguese fans always arrived late. He wasn't kidding. It has gone from being half empty to bouncing quickly and this should be a great atmosphere. 

10 minutes to KO: Van Bronckhurst has been talking to BT Sport on the touchline and he is backing his side to bounce back from their 2-1 loss to Celtic on Sunday that has left facing a tall order to retain the Scottish Premiership title.

Of making three changes he said: "I have a good squad and at this time of season you look to use it as best you can. It is two legs and we have to perform in both games so the aim is to get a positive result here to take back for the second leg."

20 minutes to KO: Carvalhal is a familiar face to British football fans having had reigns at Sheffield Wednesday and then in the Premier league Swansea City in the past.

He is optimistic that his Braga team can get the better of Rangers and has had them well scouted. He told BT Sport: "There are a lot of positive points to Rangers we have seen but there are some negatives which we will look too exploit."

30 minutes to KO: Rangers are always well supported on the road and this appears to be no different. There is set to be 5,000 spectators in the Braga Municipal Stadium and BT Sport are reporting there are plenty more Glaswegians in Portugal to soak up the atmosphere.

40 minutes to KO: The BT Sport coverage has begun in the UK ahead of the action and former Rangers player Kenny Miller believes the way the draw has opened up, with Barcelona in the other half of the draw, will only increase the belief from Giovanni van Bronckhurst's side.

"You are only two wins (ties) away from reaching the final and it definitely will be in the players minds that if they can perform to what we know they can they have a great chance of going to the final."

55 minutes to KO: We now have the Braga team line-up as well. They are managed by Carvalhal, who managed Swansea City in the Premier League as part of his long and respected managerial career.

65 minutes to KO: The Rangers team has been named for the game and there are three changes from Sunday's 2-1 loss to Scottish Premiership title rivals Celtic with Scott Arfield, Glen Kamara and Fashion Sakala coming in for Aaron Ramsey, Joe Aribo and Kemar Roofe.

70 minutes to KO: Braga defeated highly fancied Monaco in the last 16, with a 3-1 aggregate success over the Ligue 1 side.

An impressive 3-2 success over Benfica on Friday has left Carlos Carvalhal's men full of confidence for their bid to take a lead back to Scotland. They've won both knockout home legs 2-0 they have played this season in the competition and you'd think they would want at least at minimum a repeat of that again here to boost their semi-final hopes

90 minutes to KO: Rangers can take a positive omen from being in Portugal for the first leg of this Europa League quarter-final.

The last time they were in the last eight of an European competition, the 2007-08 UEFA Cup, it was Sporting Lisbon they faced.

After drawing the first leg 0-0 at Ibrox they went on to win the second leg in Lisbon 2-0 thanks to Jean-Claude Darcheville and Steven Whittaker.

Rangers went on to reach the final in Manchester where they lost to Zenit Saint Petersburg 2-0. A repeat of that in this tie, with a different result in the final, would suit the Scottish Premier League champions very nicely.

2 hours to KO: Welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Sporting Braga vs. Rangers. We are following the action at the Braga Municipal Stadium as Scottish Premiership champions Rangers look to get a positive result to take away from Portugal for the second leg at Ibrox on April 14. 

How to watch Braga vs. Rangers

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date April 7 April 7 April 7 April 8
Time 20:00 15:00 ET 15:00 ET 06:00 AET
TV channel BT Sport 2 - - -
Streaming BT Sport Paramount+ DAZN Stan Sport

In the US, Spanish-language coverage of the Europa League is available on fuboTV, which also offers a free trial to new subscribers.

In Canada, every Europa League game streams live on DAZN. 

Braga vs. Rangers predicted lineups

Braga's main focus is on the Europa League so coach Carlos Carvalhal is likely to go for his strongest line-up as he looks to take a lead to Scotland for the second leg.

Vitor Oliveira scored the winner against Benfica on Friday and will again be expected to be instrumental to their hopes of success.

Braga predicted lineup (3-5-2): Matheus (GK) — P Oliveira, Carmo, Tomena — Couta, A Horta, Musrati, Gomes, R Horta; — Mederios, V Oliveira

Rangers have not been shy in front of group in the knockout stages, notching up 10 in four games so far. But they will be without Alfredo Morelos for the trip to Portugal and indeed the rest of the season.

The Colombian striker has a thigh injury and Rangers will hope that the loss of the man with five goals in the Europa League will not dent their semi-final aspirations too badly.

Rangers predicted lineup (4-4-2): McGregor (GK) — Tavernier, Bassey, Goldson, Balogun — Lundstram, Jack, Ramsey, Aribo — Kent, Roofe

MORE: The toughest groups at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

Braga vs. Rangers betting odds

  UK
(Sky Bet)		 USA
(DraftKings)		 Canada
(Sports Interaction)
[Home] Win 11/8 +140 2.35
Draw 11/5 +245 3.28
[Away] Win 21/10 +200 2.91
Over 2.5 Goals 8/11 +110 2.05
Both Teams to Score 8/11 -130 1.75

Graham Caygill