Rangers' Antonio Colak celebrates after he scored his side's first goal during a Champions League playoff second leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Rangers, at the Philips stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) - Rangers returned to the Champions League group stage following a 12-year absence that included a humiliating financial crisis by winning 1-0 at PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday to advance through the playoffs round.
Rangers will take its place in Thursday's group-stage draw thanks to Croatia forward Antonio ÄŒolak's 60th-minute goal in the second leg to seal a 3-2 win on aggregate score.
A decade ago, Rangers was liquidated as a club and restarted in the fourth tier of Scottish football.
Now it joins city rival Celtic, which got direct entry as the Scottish league winner, in the lucrative Champions League that is worth tens of millions of euros (dollars) to each.
Copenhagen also advanced Wednesday by holding Turkish champion Trabzonspor to a 0-0 draw after winning the home leg 2-1 last week.
Extra time was being played between Dinamo Zagreb and Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt, with the teams tied 2-2 on aggregate after 90 minutes in Croatia.
Dinamo led 2-1 in the second leg after Glimt won 1-0 in Norway last week. UEFA abolished the away-goals rule last year, which would have sent the Norwegian champion through.
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Rangers' Antonio Colak celebrates after he scored his side's first goal during a Champions League playoff second leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Rangers, at the Philips stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
Rangers' coach Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, center, reacts afte Rangers' Antonio Colak scored his side's first goal during a Champions League playoff second leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Rangers, at the Philips stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
Rangers' Antonio Colak celebrates after he scored his side's first goal during a Champions League playoff second leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Rangers, at the Philips stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
Rangers' Antonio Colak scores his side's first goal during a Champions League playoff second leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Rangers, at the Philips stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
Trabzonspor's Stefano Denswil, left, and Copenhagen's Lukas Lerager fight for the ball during the Champions League play-off, second leg soccer match, between Trabzonspor and FC Copenhagen at the Senol Gunes stadium in Trabzon, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
The Associated Press
Copenhagen's goalkeeper Mathew Ryan kicks the ball during the Champions League play-off, second leg soccer match, between Trabzonspor and FC Copenhagen at the Senol Gunes stadium in Trabzon, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
The Associated Press