Rangers 1 - 1 CSKA Moscow

Thompson (87),

Rangers' hopes of joining Celtic in the Champions League draw were snuffed out by a second-half Vagner Love strike on a night when the home side had to win to stay alive.

The 1-1 draw, and subsequent 3-2 aggregate defeat, also means a loss of £8million in revenue.

The home side's task was to retrieve a 2-1 first-leg deficit. Substitute Steven Thompson fired a late leveller on the night and there was an even later chance for fellow substitute Marvin Andrews, who had set up the goal, but the Russian champions were not to be denied.

The setback heaps more pressure onto the shoulders of manager Alex McLeish, who has yet to see his side keep a clean sheet in Europe in 14 attempts.

There was also a flash of controversy just before half-time when Nacho Novo netted with a fine strike which was disallowed because the whistle had already gone.

Now Rangers' name will appear in Friday's low-key UEFA Cup draw rather than the razzmatazz of the Champions League selections.

McLeish had made two big decisions before kick-off as he re-jigged his side to compensate for the loss of Alex Rae, whose five-match ban for kicking Serghei Dadu in the head in the first leg had been upheld by UEFA.

First was to gamble on the fitness of Dragan Mladenovic, whose hamstring was not fully healed, from the start as the man to make things happen in midfield.

The other was to hand an instant recall to Craig Moore, the man who had been stripped of the captaincy in pre-season and placed on the transfer list for opting to play for Australia in the Olympics.

The defender was both booed and cheered before kick-off. The Russians made an unruly start with Jiri Jarosik and Yuri Zhirkov both warned for early fouls on Fernando Ricksen.

Rangers worked hard to win and then keep the ball and eventually opened up a stubborn defence in the 18th minute when Dado Prso placed a clever backwards header away from defenders.Peter Lovenkrands used his pace to get there first but blazed a fine chance over.

CSKA's strike force of Ivica Olic and Vagner was not lacking in speed either and Gregory Vignal did well to dive and head away before the Brazilian could connect after Olic had twice beaten Moore for pace.

Ricksen then inexplicably gave the ball straight back to Vagner and Stefan Klos - the man who had inherited the armband from Moore - had to make his first significant block of the night.

Rangers fired in cross after cross from open play, corners and free-kicks but could make no headway until the Novo incident ignited the crowd.

Referee Wolfgang Stark's decision to blow early when Elvir Rahmic fouled the Spaniard will never be forgiven by the home fans, who saw the striker shrug off the challenge and blast a superb drive past teenage goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and into the net.

It was a classic case of the attacking team being punished twice but Stark had already made his decision before the ball hit the net and the other Russian defenders had stopped so Rangers' protests were in vain.

The free-kick move ended with Ricksen firing into the wall to complete the let-off for the Russians and the German official's departure for the dressing room a few minutes later was accompanied by a crescendo of boos.

The Russian champions made the stronger start to the second half however and Rangers were relieved to see Vagner curl an effort from 25 yards just wide with Klos motionless.

Rangers continued to pump balls into the box - a tactic that had led to goals against Hibernian at the weekend but, as Hibs manager Tony Mowbray had predicted, was easily dealt with by the goalkeeper.

Stephen Hughes scuffed a shot wide before Vagner inflicted the mortal blow on the hour mark. The Brazilian had been a scorer in the first leg and accepted a cutback from the other marksman on that night, Jarosik, to prod home from inside the six-yard box after the ball had squirted past a defender and an attacker at the near post.

Rangers threw men forward but CSKA were able to launch speedy counter-attacks of their own. One saw Olic go down in the box under a Moore challenge and although play continued the Croatian was back again within seconds. It required another fine parry by Klos at his near post to deny him.

McLeish threw on Thompson and Andrews and the pair combined to conjure up an 87th-minute leveller, with the latter heading on for the former to lash home with a well-directed drive.

There was still time for Andrews to have a glorious chance fall at his feet after the goalkeeper could not hold on to a Vignal drive but the big defender fired fatefully wide.

RANGERS: Kloss, Ricksen, Bumsong, Moore, Vignal, Arveladze, Hughes, Mladenovic (Andrews 81), Prso, Novo, Lovenkrands (Thompson 64),

Unused subs: Smith, Khizanishvili, Malcolm, Ross, Vanoli,

Ref: Wolfgang Stark

Man-of-the-match: Boumsong

Attendance 49,010

CSKA Moscow 2 - 1 Rangers

Novo 35

Alex McLeish's side came off second best to the Russian champions in the first leg of their final qualifying round tie.

Rangers made a stumbling start, allowing CSKA to net in only the fourth minute.

Nacho Novo equalised before the break - but within seconds of the restart Jiri Jarosek had fired the hosts back in front, and despite some frantic play at either end that was how it finished.

Beforehand, McLeish had dropped heavy hints he would send out his most defensive line-up to maximise the chances of returning to Ibrox without a deficit.

But instead there was no shortage of attacking options paraded from the start, with Peter Lovenkrands overcoming fitness fears and Shota Arveladze elevated from the bench.

Winger Chris Burke was an absentee, however, because of illness - and that allowed Maurice Ross to make an unexpected start.

The Russians switched the tie to the swish new ground of neighbours Lokomotiv, and there was a Union Jack-bedecked corner housing the handful of away fans.

Rangers did attack from the off but soon found themselves a goal down.

Vagner Silva de Souza was the man who netted it, throwing himself forward to meet a cross from the left delivered by strike partner Ivica Olic and which took a deflection off Zura Khizanishvili.

The Brazilian, who cost the Russians £5.5million in the summer, was apparently intent on proving the money well spent - and Rangers soon had goalkeeper Stefan Klos to thank that he did not double his tally.

Klos had to dive at full stretch to keep out a 30-yard free-kick from Jarosik which took a hefty deflection off Fernando Ricksen, and when Vagner gave French duo Gregory Vignal and Jean-Alain Boumsong the slip the Rangers goalkeeper needed all his experience to deflect the resulting shot round his near post.

Rangers were giving away too many free-kicks and finding themselves penned into their own half too often, and there was another scare when Olic got in behind Boumsong chasing a long ball over the top.

The Croatian went down as the Frenchman - the last man - challenged. But the referee instantly waved play on from a distant position.

It was the other Croatian on the pitch - Rangers' Dado Prso - who was to make the next significant contribution.

The striker had made little impact and was often been forced wide on the left as Rangers struggled to create.

But when Vasily Berezutskiy lost control of the ball for a second he was alive to the possibilities and, having left the defender trailing, slipped the ball across for Novo as the Russians' last man closed in.

Novo's first touch was too heavy, but goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev's decision to come out and meet him was not vindicated by his gathering of the ball - and suddenly the box was full of players trying to get the ball.

Prso had waded in by that time, and the ball eventually broke for Novo to make amends by gleefully slotting into the net to give his side a vital away goal in the 37th minute.

Rangers had to survive another penalty appeal - this time for handball - before the break.

But the reprieve was short-lived as Jarosik needed only a few seconds after the restart to make it 2-1.

The Czech was able to get past Ross on the left touchline from a throw-in move and then fire a rasping drive across and beyond Klos from a tight position on the left.

Chidi Odiah was hurt as Prso challenged in the box, and when Deividas Semberas reacted angrily both ended up getting booked.

CSKA subjected Rangers to a barrage of corners - and Vagner, having moved effortlessly past Ross, fired across goal and narrowly wide.

Alex Rae gave the ball straight to Vagner, and Khizanishvili was booked for fouling him before he could reach the box.

Vagner was replaced by Serghei Dadu in the 70th minute before a flurry of yellow cards saw Ricksen, Novo and Yury Zhirkov all booked.

Rae was to join them in stoppage time, having previously escaped punishment when his boot connected with an opponent's head.

The game ended with Rangers throwing men forward as if this was the deciding leg.

That will be at Ibrox in a fortnight's time, however, and Novo's away goal could prove crucial.

RANGERS: Kloss, Ross, Ricksen, Bumsong, Khizanishvili, Vignal, Arveladze, A. Rae, Prso, Novo, Lovenkrands (Thompson 83),

Unused subs: Smith, Hutton, Andrews, Malcolm, Vanoli, McCormack,

Ref: Jan Wegereef

Man-of-the-match: A. Rae

Attendance 11,000