CAF Champions League: Rangers out, so is Nigeria out of the groups?

Enugu Rangers are out of the CAF Champions League after losing 3-0 to MC Alger on Friday night, a 3-2 aggregate defeat that leaves Nigeria without a club in the group stage.

Rangers had won the first leg 2-0. Chahreddine Boukholda scored two minutes before the hour, Mohamed Bangoura added another six minutes from time and Soufiane Bayazid scored in stoppage time. Goalkeeper Destiny Abuchi saved a Bangoura penalty in the 70th minute.

Rivers United had already gone out in the first preliminary round, so no Nigerian club is in the group phase.

What the exit means for Nigeria

With both Nigerian entrants gone from the Champions League, the continent's biggest club competition continues without a team from the country. Soccernet set out the stakes for the second legs in its look at the Rangers and El-Kanemi ties.

Analysis: the save that kept the tie alive

All three Algerian goals came in the second half, and the aggregate arithmetic shows how narrow the tie was. When Abuchi saved the 70th-minute penalty, Rangers still led 2-1 on aggregate. Had it gone in, the tie would have been level at 2-2 with 20 minutes left.

Bangoura's goal six minutes from time made it 2-2 on aggregate, and the stoppage-time goal settled it. The two-goal first-leg cushion was gone by the 84th minute.

Rangers' attention now turns to the league, where Soccernet looked earlier this week at why Rangers hold the edge over Rivers United at the top.

The next test for Rangers is domestic.