Rangers have excelled so far in Group D of the Champions League but last night at Ibrox there was evidence that they are going to have to barge their way into the second phase. Galatasaray, under their scheming Romanian coach, Mircea Lucescu, are a cunning bunch, and they displayed what playing away from home in Europe is all about.

A crowd of 49,000 in the pouring rain found this a hard one to swallow. Rangers were short of manpower, and cruelly missed Giovanni Van Bronckhorst's craft in midfield, but their Turkish visitors still deserved credit for their adventure. From the first kick they pinned Rangers back and applied their tactical advances.

Rangers had chances to win, some of them badly spurned. Neil McCann had the goal at his mercy late in the second half, but his header rebounded straight off Claudio Taffarel's body. The little man from the Carpathians was also in his element. Ibrox reserved one of its vintage welcomes for Gheorghe Hagi - always booing, often jeering, occasionally goading - but the diminutive maestro was used to this.

The hotter the flames of unwelcome, indeed, the greater Hagi must take it as a compliment. He certainly knew he provoked the Rangers fans last night: stalling on the ball, caressing it lovingly with his left boot and delivering delicious crosses.

This was a night of apprehension for Rangers and it was easy to see why. In Istanbul Dick Advocaat was out-smarted by Mircea Lucescu, Galatasaray's coach, and last night Lucescu was up to more of his tricks.

He pushed both Hagi and Sas Hasan into the heart of Advocaat's defence, forcing Rangers on to their back foot and stealing their momentum. The result was a match which often seemed in the firm clench of the Turkish champions.

The fact that Rangers were struggling with a depleted squad meant little to their supporters. In defence, they had drafted in Sergio Porrini, a man who has already tasted a Champions League final with Juventus, and in attack Peter Lovenkrands, the young Dane who, when he arrived in Glasgow in June, was called the new golden boy of the European game. Rangers last night needed Ronald De Boer to deliver on his reputation, but the Dutchman often toiled to assert his skills on the game.

Rangers were toothless in the first half. For all Galatasaray's vibrant talents, in Claudio Taffarel they surely had a flapping goalkeeper worth launching the odd missile towards, yet the Brazilian, excepting a few early and futile bursts from Tony Vidmar, had an unperturbed first 45 minutes.

In the second period, Rangers sprang forth with greater aggression, but it was not before time. At half-time the only thought was of the crashing decibels of an ear-bashing which an irate Advocaat was no doubt giving his players.

Galatasaray produced the move of the match in the 52nd minute and it was little surprise who designed it and whose boot sealed its delivery. Hagi's pass from inside his own half sped on its way with pace and swerve, between Rangers defenders and into the perfect path of Hakan Unsal.

The striker almost seemed taken aback at his need to do little except shoot, and his effort was palmed and finally held by Stefan Klos.

Rangers finally tried to assert themselves but Hagi's presence was everywhere. Moments later he plied another pass right into the path of Jardel, who again, at the far post, seemed startled and struck his shot wide.

An edgy Ibrox did not calmly take all this, and nor did Advocaat, a man with a short fuse, who repeatedly bulleted from his dugout to harangue his out-fought players.

Rangers threw Neil McCann on for the ineffective Lovenkrands and finally, with genuine width, Rangers offered some threat. On the other flank, after years of us waiting, there was also a glimpse of the Andrei Kanchelskis of old, whose darting runs began to sow anxiety in the Turkish defence. Tugay's shot was blocked by Taffarel, but Galatasaray, through all this, had a collective heart of steel.

Not long after, de Boer opened up the Turks' defence again with a ball to the far post, where a blue shirt had stolen in unmarked. But sadly Porrini was wearing it and his finish - high and wide - was that of a true defender.

Rangers (4-4-2): Klos; Reyna, Konterman, Porrini, Vidmar; Kanchelskis, Tugay, Ferguson, Albertz; De Boer, Lovenkrands

Galatasaray (4-5-1): Taffarel; Fatih, Popescu, K Bulent, Hakan Unsal; Hagi, Umit, A Bulent, Ergun, Hasan; Jardel

Referee: M Markus (Germany)