Rene Weiler insists Rangers have left Champions League 'door open' as Servette aim to make them pay in Geneva

Servette boss Rene Weiler admits Rangers left the door open for his side to sneak through into the playoff round of the Champions League.

The Swiss side found themselves 2-0 down after just 15 minutes at Ibrox as the hosts threatened to end the tie before the break, never mind travelling to Geneva next week. But Cyriel Dessers' clumsy handball before the interval allowed Chris Bedia to reduce the arrears and give his team a fighting chance.

Servette saw their numbers reduced for the second European game in succession when David Douline was shown a second yellow card just before the hour mark. His wild swipe at the ball connected with Todd Cantwell and the midfielder was sent packing, just as striker Enzo Crivelli was after just five minutes against Genk in the last round. But the frontman will be available for the return leg. And while Weiler admits his team enjoyed a stroke of fortune when Dessers threw up an arm in the area, he believes they can capitalise on it when they welcome Rangers to their home turf.

"It's a result which leaves the door open for us next week going into the second-leg," he said. "It was a tough start for us early on to go down two goals, they came at us with a high level of play. It was difficult but we got a stroke of luck with the penalty.

“Nonetheless I think it was a balanced first-half overall, we tried to attack once we went two goals down but then with the red card it was tough for us. In the end it's a good result for us and leaves us with a possibility next week."