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An expectant Ibrox witnessed a cagey start to the game, with Barcelona comfortably in control of possession and Rangers regularly backing off to the edge of their own penalty area.

Former Chelsea man Eidur Gudjohnsen, hoping to make the most of a rare start for his injury-stricken employers, had the first sight of goal after five minutes, but could not keep his header down from six yards.

Ronaldinho, recalled after missing Barcelona's 3-1 defeat to Villarreal at the weekend, was far from on top form, but his sharp free kick after 25 minutes was touched onto the bar and over by Allan McGregor.

With the clock ticking towards half time Barca began to raise their game, and for the last five minutes of the half Rangers were penned inside their own area. First McGregor reacted well to push a header from Carles Puyol over the bar, and moments later Ronaldinho found space in the area after a corner but saw his shot blocked at close range by Alan Hutton.

The second half quickly assumed a similar pattern, but with Thierry Henry prompting from the left, Barca began to look more dangerous around the hour mark.

A sustained spell of pressure from the away side brought a corner, and when Sasa Papac swiped at the ball at his near post, Henry could only glance his header wide from close range.

As Barca pressed, so Rangers began to exploit the gaps they left at the back. Daniel Cousin was forced to plough a lone furrow up front all evening, but he proved to be a constant threat. His half-cleared cross was blazed over by Lee McCulloch, and with 10 minutes left a high ball from Barry Ferguson gave him a great chance to score at the back post, but he flashed his volley across goal and wide.

Thereafter the game began to quieten, with both sides reluctant to commit too many men forward in search of a winner. Barca played plenty of neat football, but had no cutting edge whatsoever, while Rangers can reflect with pride on a performance of real grit.

Stuttgart 0-2 Lyon

Lyon leapfrogged Stuttgart into third place in Group E after a routine win in the Gottlieb-Daimler stadium.

Neither team were able to get out of second gear in a deathly dull match which took a long time to come to life. Both sides came into the game on zero points and with just a single goal between them.

It was immediately evident why. France stars Hatem Ben Arfa and Karim Benzema were guilty of squandering numerous chances when clean through on goal and Stuttgart struggled throughout to get the ball up to their lone striker Mario Gomez.

The second half was fractionally better fare than the first. Lyon were rewarded in the 56th minute when defender Fabio Dos Santos scored with a deflected effort from the edge of the box after a goalmouth scramble.

One goal was always going to be enough to settle such a dire encounter, but Benzema supplied a rare moment of class for the second in the 79th minute. He ran onto a long ball from Anthony Reveillere and lost two markers before wrong-footing and shooting past Stuttgart keeper Raphael Schaefer.

Stuttgart were denied a clear penalty at the death when Gomez was cynically scythed down by Lyon 'keeper Remy Vercoutre - but in truth Stuttgart's performance did not merit a goal.

Lyon will be glad to escape with the points.

Tom Williams & Kerry McCarthy / Eurosport