Allan McGregor was the Rangers hero as Walter Smith's men rode their luck in Bremen to reach the UEFA Cup quarter-finals despite a 1-0 defeat on the night.

McGregor's Werder counterpart Tim Wiese was the German team's culprit in the tie, and his two monumental mistakes at Ibrox last week proved decisive over the 180 minutes as Rangers won through 2-1 on aggregate.

The visitors to the Weserstadion had to withstand a major onslaught from the hosts, who took the lead in the 58th minute thanks to a moment of magic from Diego.

Werder then hit the crossbar through Boubacar Sanogo five minutes from time, but it was the fingertips of goalkeeper McGregor which prevented the close-range shot finding the net as he touched it against the woodwork.

Rangers would never allow Bremen to get close again as they survived a dramatic last minute to move through.

McGregor refused to talk up his side's chances of winning the trophy despite them edging out the hotly-tipped Germans.

On their chances of going all the way, he told BBC Scotland: "I don't know about that but Werder Bremen must have been one of the favourites and you can only take it one game at a time.

"But it's an unbelievable spirit here and all the boys get on well. It's a great mix of Scottish lads and foreigners and the banter is good.

"This is massive for the club. Even at the start of the Champions League draw nobody expected us to get here. We've dug deep and that's what was needed."

More news from SportingLife.com