Ranagers slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Group G winners Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium as they completed their UEFA Champions League campaign in disappointing fashion.

Having failed to pick up a win in their last 11 European outings - the worst run in the club's illustrious history - Rangers travelled to Spain more in hope than expectation of picking up three points against Los Rojiblancos.

And it would ultimately prove to be a fruitless evening as a Fredi Kanoute penalty after just eight minutes condemned the SPL champions to yet another defeat in Europe's elite club competition.

Manolo Jimenez's men began ferociously and were almost ahead in the opening few minutes when Kanoute beat Allan McGregor with an angled drive, only to see Sasa Papac miraculously clear off the line.

But Sevilla's early pressure was duly rewarded when Steven Whittaker conceded a penalty for hauling down Fernando Navarro inside the penalty area.

Former Tottenham and West Ham hitman Kanoute stepped up to nonchalantly send McGregor the wrong way as he rolled ball home into the bottom left hand corner.

Fortunately for Walter Smith’s men, further attempts failed to suffice and despite frustrating the home crowd they did very little in threatening Andres Palop at the other end.

However, a glorious chance again went begging for the hosts when McGregor raced off his line to beat Kanoute to the ball and then Madjid Bougherra wa son hand to clear Jesus Navas' effort off the line.

Another chance almost sent the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan into raptures when Didier Zokora saw his shot bounce off the inside of the post following an incisive counter attack which nearly stretched the score to 2-0.

In the second half, Rangers yet again failed to cause any problems for the Sevilla defence and it was the home side who were threatening again when a cut-back from Navas was smothered by McGregor, with Kanoute and Renato ready to pounce.

Rangers breathed a sigh of relief when Kanoute was withdrawn after an hour for Alvaro Negredo, while fellow substitute Aldo Duscher almost made an immediate impact when his ambitious shot from the edge of the box had McGregor at full stretch before tipping over.

Smith's men did finally created a decent chance late on when Nacho Novo rifled a shot just past the upright but the assistant referee's flag was already raised for offside to complete a miserable evening for the Scots.

In terms of the Group G final standings, the win for Sevilla allowed a four point gap from second placed Stuttgart who also progressed into the next phase to the disappointment of third placed Unirea Urziceni and group dwellers Rangers.