RANGERS manager Philippe Clement tonight described the red card which his winger Jefte received in the Champions League defeat to Dynamo Kyiv as the worst decision he has seen in his 30 year football career.
The Brazilian winger received a second booking from Italian referee Marco Guida following an innocuous challenge on Oleksandr Karavaiev in the second leg of the third qualifying round double header at Hampden.
The Glasgow club, who were drawing 0-0 when they were reduced to 10 men, competed well with the Ukrainian visitors after that, but they conceded two late goals and ended up suffering a 3-1 aggregate defeat.
Clement, whose team will now go into the Europa League group stages, was furious with the decision of the match official.
“In football, sometimes there is a grey zone and because of that VAR is there,” he said. “It helps football to make it more honest. But this decision had nothing to do with grey zone. It was really clear, there was nothing going on. “He just jumps higher, he doesn't move his arms next to his body. So it's not a fault, it's nothing. To lose a player at that moment? So I tried to understand the decision and to ask, but the referee stuck to his opinion about it. It was really a clear fault, the second yellow and red. “I cannot say it kills the dream at that moment, because that's the thing to be proud of. The players kept on going with them to make a good organisation, to try to find the moments to counter-attack.
“Before that we were dominating the game, and we were creating the chances out of that. Not with massive chances, because Dynamo is also a good team, but you saw they were getting tired and we knew the last half hour we would get more space to get better chances.
“So, yeah, the players kept on doing what they had to do, they kept on believing, but then you get the goal against at the end, and then you do a little bit of a gamble, one against one, to try to force something and you get the second goal against.”
Clement continued: “It's a very decisive moment and in the end it has killed the dream of a dressing room, it has killed the dream of more than 50,000 fans. You expect a better level in decision-making, because this is for me the worst decision I've seen in more than 30 years.
“Especially at this level, when there is so much at stake. I have a lot of things in my head, but you guys [the media] know that every word I say is too much. I can get a ban also for the next European game, so let's keep things in my head. “I think it's the best way now. I need to be good and smart for the club, for the team. We need to move on, that's what we need to do. Take lessons out of this game, and there are a lot of positive lessons to take out of the two games against them. The other things we don't control, so we try not to control the things we cannot control.”
Rangers would have banked in the region of £40m if they had manager to make it through to the new Champions League league phase – and Clement confessed the loss would have a detrimental impact on his squad rebuild.
“If you go to the Champions League you can do things faster because there's £40m coming into the club,” he said. “That's not the case now, so it will take more time. That's the reality.
“But it doesn't mean that the story stops of course, and you see it already now. With young, exciting players coming into the club, making steps, and I don't need to say all the names every time. “And to make value for the future, to make next steps, and out of that you can get two, three other players. And like this we need to create a model as a club to grow.”
Meanwhile, Clement dismissed concerns about the fitness of Rangers striker Danilo after a video of the Brazilian striker limping on the Hampden turf before kick-off was posted on social media.
“Dani always had that kind of walk, from the moment he came in,” he said. “When he came into the club here. I've been watching him a long time. I wanted to get him to Bruges when he was in Ajax. “And he was not playing there. And he had that walk also. Nobody needs to worry about that. There's nothing going on with him. “And today I wanted to put him in, that was the idea. But then the circumstances of the game were not there. But people will see him in the next couple of weeks, they don't need to worry about it.
“It's just about seven months out that you need time to gain much fitness and then the right moments to get these minutes. And it depends also on the scenarios of the game in that situation.”
Rangers left-back Ridvan Yilmaz was stretchered off in the second half, but Clement was unable to provide a fitness update on the defender.
