Rangers hold Barca at bay

Barcelona arrived at Ibrox determined to take all three points and Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol all came close during a fraught 90 minutes.

However, they were ultimately frustrated by a stubborn Rangers side, who held on for the draw that keeps them joint top of the group.

Manager Walter Smith named the same side who defeated Celtic at the weekend, with Nacho Novo dropping back to midfield and Daniel Cousin once again taking on the lone striker role he performed so well in Lyon.

The first real chance of the match fell to Rangers when Cousin was fouled by Lilian Thuram a few yards in front of the corner flag. Barry Ferguson presided over the resultant free-kick but his effort was comfortably collected by goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

But it was only a matter of time before Barcelona stamped their authority on the game and Rangers spent the rest of the half surviving an onslaught. The home side were forced into last-gasp defending when Carlos Cuellar hooked a Messi effort off the line.

Rangers were then under pressure again when Ronaldinho was hacked down by Alan Hutton 25 yards out. The Brazilian took the free-kick himself but was denied by Allan McGregor who tipped Ronaldinho's fierce drive onto the crossbar and over to safety.

Barcelona surged forward in numbers in search of the opener after the break and were displaying some wonderful passing football. However, McGregor was far from troubled by a poor long range effort from Xabi, who blasted well over the crossbar from 35 yards.

Thierry Henry should have opened the scoring for the La Liga side when he connected with a Xavi corner but somehow managed to nod over from close range. Sighs of relief from the Ibrox crowd were then replaced by groans of despair as Novo and Ferguson both narrowly failed to connect with a Cousin cross, as the ball fizzed across goal and wide.

David Weir - who had been excellent in the heart of defence all evening - was booked before Cousin hooked agonisingly wide as Rangers tried to snatch the winner. In the end, both teams were forced to settle for the draw, as the match ended without any goals but far from lacking in entertainment.