Celtic’s defeat to Kairat Almaty was a major embarrassment on Tuesday night, but Rangers fans who revelled in it didn’t have long to enjoy themselves. Less than 24 hours later, Russell Martin’s Rangers side suffered a humiliation of their own that will be remembered for years.
In Brugge, the Ibrox club were dismantled in ruthless fashion. Club Brugge cut through Rangers with ease, racking up a 6–0 win on the night and a staggering 9–1 aggregate scoreline. The Belgians looked like they were playing a training exercise by the end, knocking the ball around at walking pace and treating the tie like a friendly masters match. The gulf in quality was alarming.
For Martin, this is a brutal early reality check. He was given little chance of progressing, but the manner of the collapse – Rangers looking like passengers over 180 minutes – is something no manager can hide from. The pressure will only intensify with the first derby of the season looming at Ibrox this Sunday.
Yet, as Rangers’ humiliation unfolded, pundit Kris Boyd could not resist deflecting attention towards Celtic. As the fifth goal went past Jack Butland, Boyd muttered: “The fifth goal has gone in and yet it’s still not the worst result in Scottish football this week.”
The words sounded pre-planned, a weak attempt to drag Celtic into the conversation rather than deal with the scale of Rangers’ humiliation. Instead of facing up to what he was watching, Boyd leaned on his old obsession – and in doing so only highlighted the fragility of Rangers’ pride on a dark European night.
Club Brugge score TWICE in three minutes to close the half 8–1 ahead on aggregate 😮 pic.twitter.com/1X0uSZQ0q0
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 27, 2025
Nobody is comparing defeats here – both Celtic and Rangers are out of the Champions League before August is over. But losing 9–1 on aggregate, and looking like a team Brugge could have beaten by more if they felt like it, is as damaging as it gets for Martin and his players.
Both Glasgow giants limp into Sunday’s derby with questions hanging over them. Celtic will try to recover from their own embarrassment, while Martin must lift Rangers from one of the most humiliating defeats in their European history.
