Ferencvaros 2-1 Rangers: Miovski bicycle kick not enough to buoy Europa League hopes

Ferencvaros came from a goal down to beat Rangers 2-1 in the Europa League, all but ending the Scottish side’s hopes of reaching the knockout rounds.

Bojan Miovski gave Danny Rohl’s team the lead shortly before the half-hour mark with a bicycle kick, but goals from Bence Otvos and Barnabas Varga now leave Rangers six points off the last playoff spot with two games to go, with 24th-place Celtic still to play on Thursday.

Ferencvaros almost took the lead inside three minutes when Bamidele Yusuf shot wide of the target, and Rangers made them rue that early miss when Miovski put the visitors ahead with an acrobatic finish after Danilo’s initial attempt was blocked by Toon Raemaekers.

Robbie Keane’s side went close to levelling the score shortly after, with Yusuf managing to only hit the side-netting from close range.

However, Otvos did restore parity in first-half stoppage time after he swept home from Ibrahim Cisse’s cutback.

The hosts carried that momentum into the second half, and Varga looked destined to give Ferencvaros the lead after being played through on goal, but Nasser Djiga made a brilliant recovery run and tackle to deny the forward.

However, Varga could not be denied in the 72nd minute as he escaped the clutches of Emmanuel Fernandez to head past Jack Butland from Callum O’Dowda’s cross and secure a turnaround win for the Hungarian side.

Full-Time in Budapest

Ferencváros 2 – 1 Rangers | #UEL pic.twitter.com/vZPEVbYflo

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) December 11, 2025

Data Debrief: Varga loves the Europa League

Although Rangers scored one of the goals of the tournament, Ferencvaros were more dominant throughout the 90 minutes at Groupama Arena. They produced 1.64 expected goals (xG) from 16 shots to Rangers’ 1.15 from seven attempts.

Since the start of last season, Varga has scored more Europa League goals than any other player (10), and no one has scored more headed goals (four) than the 31-year-old.

And Varga more than deserved his goal against Rangers, winning the most duels in the match (13/19), aerial battles (8/11), creating two chances and registering the second-most shots for his side (three).