DaMarcus Beasley made a late cameo as Rangers punched their Champions League group phase ticket on Tuesday, while Freddy Adu watched from the bench as Benfica did likewise on Wednesday.

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GOALLESS DRAW ADVANCES RANGERS
Rangers held Red Star Belgrade to a 0-0 draw at the Stadion Crvena Zvezda on Tuesday night to book a place in the Champions League group phase.

DaMarcus Beasley came on as a substitute in the 79th minute as Rangers manager Walter Smith went with a very defensive 4-5-1 formation to defend their 1-0 home leg advantage.

Red Star started more brightly as striker Igor Burzanovic broke through and forced a great save out of 'Gers keeper Allan MacGregor seconds after the opening kickoff.

Rangers stayed focused and only permitted another strong effort by Burzanovic in the first half. Beasley came on for Steven Whittaker and played a huge role in killing off the game to perserve the draw for Rangers.

With Rangers qualifying for the lucrative group stage of the Champions League, Smith will now be given funds to bring in another player or two before the transfer window closes on August 31st.

Rangers' Old Firm rivals Celtic will find out tomorrow night whether they will join the Ibrox side in the Champions League proper as they try and defend a 1-1 away goal lead from the encounter in Russia. If they succeed, it will mark only the second time in history that two teams from Scotland have qualified for the group stages.

RAN - Allan McGregor; Alan Hutton, David Weir, Sasa Papac, Steven Whittaker (DaMarcus Beasley 79'), Brahim Hemdani, Kevin Thomson, Carlos Cuellar, Lee McCulloch, Barry Ferguson, Jean Claude Darcheville (Daniel Cousin 70')

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ON THE SIDELINE
Freddy Adu did not make it off the bench as Benfica eased into the Champions League group stage with a 1-0 victory at FC Copenhagen on Wednesday.