Soldado double sinks Rangers

RANGERS suffered their first defeat in the Champions League this season as Roberto Soldado grabbed a double to hand Valencia a 3-0 victory.

Soldado netted on both sides of the interval, before Tino Costa sealed the win late on, as the Spaniards leapfrogged Rangers into second place behind Manchester United.

Rangers forward Steven Naismith cut a frustrated figure afterwards.

He said: “I think it’s the worst we’ve played since the start of the campaign, we didn’t defend great.

“We started off pretty well and I had a shot – when I looked up it was heading for what I thought was a goal, but it hit the post. But the biggest disappointment is we lost a goal from a set-play.”

Manager Walter Smith’s added: “It was a difficult night. We could have got a terrific start and I think the goalkeeper touched Steven Naismith’s shot on to post. The way the Champions League goes for us, if we’d got that one it maybe would have got us settled.’’

Barcelona will have to wait to book their spot in the last 16 after being held to a 1-1 draw by FC Copenhagen at the Parken Stadion.

Barca knew a victory in Denmark would guarantee themselves a place in the knockout stages and Spanish champions looked on course to achieve that after taking a 31st-minute lead through Lionel Messi.

However, second-placed FC Copenhagen drew level almost immediately through Claudemir.

The other match in Group D between Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos ended in a goalless draw.

Lyon scored three late goals but missed their chance to reach the last 16 with games to spare as Benfica boosted their own hopes of progressing from Group B with a thrilling 4-3 win.

Benfica began the game six points behind Lyon but swept aside the visitors with first-half goals from Alan Kardec, Fabio Coentrao and Javi Garcia.

Coentrao second made it 4-0 midway through the second half before Lyon began their fightback.

Yoann Gourcuff got the first before Bafetimbi Gomis struck five minutes from time. Dejan Lovren headed home in the fifth minute of injury-time, but the points went to Benfica.

The other match in Group B produced a dour goalless draw between Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Schalke.

In Group A, FC Twente kept alive their faint hopes of progressing to the last 16 after a 2-0 win at 10-man Werder Bremen.

The 74th-minute dismissal of Bremen’s Torsten Frings swung the balance in the Dutch side’s favour, with Nacer Chadli quickly finding the breakthrough before Luuk de Jong added the second.