McLeish proud despite Euro exit

McLeish has waved goobye to Europe with Rangers

Alex McLeish was a proud man as he praised his players despite exiting the Champions League in what will be his last game in Europe as Rangers boss.

"They gave a brilliant performance," he said after going out on away goals following the 1-1 draw with Villarreal.

"They have done the club proud in this competition and gone so close to doing what no other Scottish club has done.

"I'm extremely disappointed that we are out, but we were written off yet came so close to a pretty historic result."

McLeish admitted that changes by his opposing coach had changed the course of the game.

"They made a couple of substitutions at half-time and there was an added tempo to their game," he said.

We're not satisfied with what we've achieved up to now Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini

"We knew they would come at us and they equalised too soon after the break, but our efforts after that were magnificent.

"It was a piece of brilliance for their equaliser and we had a couple of saves from Ronnie Waterreus to thank, but we also had our chances."

McLeish has already announced that he will be leaving Rangers at the end of the season, with former Lyon coach Paul Le Guen lined up as his replacement.

Chairman David Murray has been expected to make an announcement once the European campaign came to an end, but McLeish was again cagey about whether he would continue for the rest of a disappointing domestic campaign.

He said he would be in charge "unless somebody tells me different".

Rangers captain Barry Ferguson thought his side ought to have given McLeish a better European send-off.

Villarreal 1-1 Rangers (agg 3-3)

"We made history by being the first Scottish team into the last 16 and that should put us back on the map," he said.

"But we dominated the first half and, although they had a go at us and got their equaliser, I think we were the better team over all and deserved to go through."

Ferguson had previously suggested that he could have an ankle operation once the European campaign ended but now says he is happy to carry on playing if that was McLeish's wish.

Villarreal are in the quarter-finals for the first time in their history, but coach Manuel Pellegrini said his team could go further in the competition.

"We're not satisfied with what we've achieved up to now," he said.

"We'll try and make the most of our chances and keep going.

"We started cautiously and we conceded an early goal. In the second half, we corrected our mistakes."