The Rangers head coach, Philippe Clement, called the dismissal of Jefté in the team’s Champions League defeat to Dynamo Kyiv “the worst decision I’ve seen in more than 30 years”.
The Brazilian winger was booked in the first half, and then sent off in the 51st minute after what looked a harsh second yellow card for an aerial challenge on Oleksandr Karavaiev. With the tie poised at 1-1 in the first leg, Kyiv took advantage with late strikes from Oleksandr Pikhalyonok and Nazar Voloshyn to progress.
“It is a very decisive moment and in the end it has killed the dream of the dressing room and 50,000 fans,” Clement said. “You expect a better level of decision-making. This is the worst decision I have seen in more than 30 years of football. I have a lot of things in my head, but you guys know if I say too much I can get a ban.”
After a cagey first half, Rangers – playing at Hampden Park while renovations are completed at Ibrox – responded strongly to the red card shown by the referee, Marco Guida. Striker Cyriel Dessers went close with his attempt charged down by a defender, before appearing to react to the crowd’s frustration after an error on the ball.
Dynamo Kyiv slowly started to take control and pounced for the breakthrough in the 82nd minute with Pikhalyonok firing past Jack Butland from the edge of the penalty area. Rangers had little time to react before Voloshyn fired home two minutes later to settle the tie, Kyiv winning 2-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
Red Bull Salzburg, who were runners-up to Sturm Graz in the Austrian league last term, looked in total control of their tie against FC Twente as they scored twice early in Enschede to take a 4-1 aggregate lead. The hosts pulled it back to 3-3 on the night, and 5-4 down overall, but Salzburg held on to advance.
José Mourinho’s hopes of leading Fenerbahce to the Champions League’s new, expanded league phase are over after Jonathan David’s extra-time penalty earned Lille a 3-2 aggregate victory against the Turkish giants.
After losing the first leg 2-1 in France, Mourinho backed Fenerbahce fans to be “our driving force” in the return leg in Istanbul – and the hosts started brightly, with Edin Dzeko heading wide in the first minute. Lille’s goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier was twice called into action, before David almost extended the visitors’ lead on a counterattack.
In the second half, Mourinho brought on Bright Osayi-Samuel, and the substitute struck the post late on with Lille clinging to their lead. In stoppage time, Fenerbahce kept the tie alive and forced extra time when a long throw bounced in off the defender Bafodé Diakité for an own goal.
Fenerbahce went into extra time with momentum, which only increased when Lille’s debutant Aïssa Mandi was sent off for a high boot. But with time running down, Lille were awarded a penalty for handball, which was converted by David to seal progress.
“It’s better if I don’t talk about the penalty,” Mourinho told Kontraspor. “Only the referee knows why it was a penalty, and the VAR knows. I’m proud of my team. I am an honest person. I told my players that I was proud of them, they did everything to win. One team deserved to win but the other team advanced.”
Lille will face Slavia Prague, who defeated Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise 4-1 on aggregate, in the final playoff round, while Fenerbahce drop into the Europa League. Elsewhere, Malmö beat Greek champions PAOK on penalties to set up a playoff with Sparta Prague, who overcame Romania’s FCSB 4-3 on aggregate.
Qarabag produced an extraordinary four-goal surge in extra time to eliminate Ludogorets in Bulgaria, turning a 3-2 lead (and 4-4 aggregate score) into a 7-2 rout and 8-4 overall win. They will face Dinamo Zagreb next, while Bodø/Glimt will play Red Star Belgrade after routing Poland’s Jagellonia Bialystok 5-1 on aggregate.
Midtjylland meet Slovan Bratislava after they eliminated Hungary’s Ferencvaros and Cypriot side Apoel respectively. Young Boys and Galatasaray, who both received byes to the final playoff round, will face off for a place in the league phase.
