Rangers International are out of the CAF Champions League after a night that will haunt Enugu for years, as MC Alger scored three second-half goals in Algiers to win 3-0 and take the second preliminary-round tie 3-2 on aggregate.
The Nigerian side arrived at the Ali La Pointe Stadium on Friday protecting a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Abeokuta on 18 October, where Kenneth Igboke's penalty and a James Emo goal had put them in control despite an early red card for goalkeeper Lucky Jimoh. For 45 minutes in Algiers, the plan worked. The half-time whistle blew with the game goalless and Rangers still heading for the 16-team group stage.
Three Goals in 35 Minutes End Rangers' Dream
The tie turned just before the hour. Chahreddine Boukholda struck in the 58th minute to give the home crowd belief, and from that moment Rangers were hanging on. Goalkeeper Destiny Abuchi, who had frustrated the hosts throughout the first half, appeared to have saved the tie when he kept out Mohamed Bangoura's penalty around the 70th minute, preserving Rangers' aggregate lead with time running out.
It was a reprieve, not a rescue. Bangoura made amends six minutes from time, scoring to level the tie at 2-2 on aggregate and leave Rangers one goal from elimination. With a penalty shootout looming, Soufiane Bayazid scored in stoppage time to complete the comeback, as confirmed in the CAF match report cited by Okay News and in the match report by SportsRation.
Before the game Rangers coach Fidelis Ilechukwu had insisted his players would not simply sit on their lead, saying they would do everything they could to get a good result. In the end, intent was not enough against a side roared on at home and chasing history of their own: MC Alger, African champions in 1976, are back in the group stage 50 years after their first continental title.
So What: Another Blow in a Hard Year for Nigerian Football
For Rangers, the cost is stark. The group stage is where CAF Champions League money, exposure and momentum live, and a two-goal lead thrown away in one half will raise hard questions about game management at this level. Rangers chief executive Amobi Ezeaku apologised to supporters after the defeat, saying in a reported message: "We are hurting, but we are not broken," and urging fans to keep faith under the club's "Never Say Die" slogan.
The exit also lands in a wider difficult period for the Nigerian game, with the future of the Nigeria Football Federation still being fought over off the pitch — a backdrop BTFW has followed in its coverage of Nigeria and the proposed FIFA normalisation committee. While Infantino continues to gather backing elsewhere in world football, Nigerian clubs keep being left to do their rebuilding the hard way: on nights like this, away from home, with a lead they could not protect.
Rangers must now refocus on domestic football with no continental campaign to sustain them, while MC Alger can look forward to the group-stage draw and a shot at a second African crown.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This was not bad luck, it was a collapse with a warning sign at every stage — a goal conceded, a penalty survived, and still Rangers could not see out 35 minutes. Saving a penalty should have been the moment that broke MC Alger's belief; instead it only delayed the inevitable, and that tells you everything about the difference in conviction between the two sides when the tie was there to be won. Can Rangers rebuild from this, or will Algiers be the night that defines their season?
