Rangers ears ringing from Marakana but Europa League smiles will last far longer - Andy Newport's big match verdict

The ringing in the ears will take a few days to die down but the smiles on Rangers faces will linger a lot longer.

Amid the defining din of the manic Markana, Giovanni van Bronckhorst ’s team sent out another message that will be heard around Europe.

After dominating in Dortmund, a scrap in Serbia was enough to see them roar into the last eight of the Europa League.

The Red Star faithful did their bit to inspire their team to a remarkable recovery from last week’s 3-0 defeat in Glasgow.

They sent the noise levels round their cacophonous cauldron off the scales as Mirko Ivanic fired Dejan Stankovics men into an early lead.

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But Ryan Kent’s second-half sucker punch was the perfect retort to hush the Belgrade bedlam.

It wasn’t a match to be savoured. Rangers lacked the spark they had at Ibrox and required Allan McGregor to dig out one of his Euro specials, with the veteran pulling off a string of saves to halt the rampaging Red Star attacks at a time when they looked ready to overwhelm the Light Blues.

By the time he was beaten again by El Fardou Ben Nabouhane’s stoppage-time penalty, Red Star were out of hope.

It was tense and nervous with a hint of menace in the air.

At half-time, a huge