The Uefa Cup ambitions of Rangers hang in the balance after a taut stalemate at Ibrox last night against Panathinakos ensured that the Scottish side will have to score in Athens in the return game next Thursday if they want to progress to that last-16 of the competition.

The home fans flooded towards the exits before the end of this barren last-32 tie, first leg, that saw Rangers stretch their record of not conceding a goal to beyond 11 hours.

However, they required their goalkeeper, Allan McGregor, to rescue them at the eleventh hour with a remarkable save to deny Dame N’Doye’s shot and protect the 0-0 scoreline.

As Walter Smith hinted in the build up to this encounter, there were plenty of changes in his side. The Rangers manager stuck to type, eschewing his top scorer, Kris Boyd, as he has all season in Europe. Boyd was a substitute, watching Lee McCulloch, nominally a midfield player, deployed as a lone striker.

Daniel Cousin learnt earlier in the day that Fifa are to delay a decision on the legality of his transfer to Fulham, so the Gabon striker was on the Rangers bench.

The five-man midfield included Steve Davis, signed on loan a fortnight ago from Fulham. The Northern Ire-land player made his debut while Charlie Adam and Nacho Novo were restored to the side, on each flank.

Panathinaikos, like the hosts, are currently top of their domestic league. The Greek side won in Govan in 2003-04 on Champions League duty, and the boisterous behaviour of their 1,000 travelling support underlined their optimism at repeating that success.

The opening 15 minutes of the contest illustrated how difficult the it would be for Rangers. Pananthinaikos’s 4-4-2 system was fluid, and swiftly became a front three when the Greek side broke. When they lost the ball, they neatly funnelled back and were hard to break down.

Their pressing game was also well-honed. It yielded the ball on several occasions, notably for when Marcelo De Mattos hit a 25-yard shot over the bar and then when Alexandros Tziolis repeated the threat.

The Rangers frustration was evident when Davis was spoken to by the referee for an overzealous lunge on Loukas Vintra. However, Davis soon had the Ibrox fans on their feet with a raking shot that was superbly clawed away by Mario Galinovic, the goalkeeper, who was unaware of the off-side flag against McCulloch.

The comfort of the Greek side in possession was a study in technical excellence. It allowed N’Doye to thread a pass into the run of Dimitrious Salpingidis in the 27th minute. Rangers thought the striker was off-side but he had timed his run well and it took the vigilance of McGregor, the goalkeeper, to clear the danger.

Rangers, in contrast, created their threat from a route one approach. Just two minutes later, a long ball was flicked on by McCulloch. It should have been dealt with by Ioannis Goumas, but the central defender’s headed pass back was too weak and that allowed Novo to pounce. The Rangers midfield player should have scored, with just Galinovic to beat, but the goalkeeper produced a fine stop with his feet.

Panathinaikos had a cosmopolitan side, sprinkled with Swedish, Croatian, South African and Brazilian recruits, but the core remains Greek. Georgios Karagounis, who helped Greece to win Euro 2004, deftly released his compatriot, Salpingidis, in the 38th minute but the forward, with N’Doye inside, wasted the situation.

That profligacy was eclipsed though, by Novo. The midfield player got in behind the visitors’ defence four minutes later to gather a fine diagonal ball from Sasa Papac. He had the goal at his mercy but again Galinovic produced a vital block, to the ire of Ibrox.

Rangers started the second half at a far higher tempo, earning three corners in as many minutes. The greatest threat came from McCulloch who rose to meet Adam’s near-post delivery and headed just narrowly wide.

However, gradually the visitors rediscovered their pressing game and created opportunities for Karagounis, the first from a lay off by N’Doye and then from a free kick after Kirk Broadfoot brought down Salpingidis, an effort that David Weir had to clear at the expense of a corner.

The bouncing Panathinaikos hordes loved it. They responded by roaring their side on with a Greek version of Jingle Bells. However, they found it hard to translate that possession into scoring opportunities.

Novo briefly offered a threat for Rangers in the 65th minute when he cut beyond Nasief Morris into the box but the defender recovered to show great composure to rob Novo.

Both sides opted to make attacking changes a minute later, with Cousin replacing Adam for Rangers and Hélder Postiga, the former Tottenham Hotspur player, coming in for Salpingidis. However, it was Barry Ferguson who came closest for the hosts, with a fierce volley that was beaten away by Galinovic before the goal-keeper also denied Novo.

Both sides know there is all to play for next week.

Rangers (4-5-1): A McGregor – K Broadfoot, C Cuellar, D Weir, S Papac – N Novo (sub: C Burke, 80min), B Ferguson, B Hemdani, S Davis, C Adam (sub: D Cousin, 67) – L McCulloch. Substitutes not used: N Alexander, C Dailly, S Naismith, A Faye.

Panathinaikos (4-4-2): M Galinovic – M Nilsson, I Goumas, N Morris, L Vintra – A Tziolis, M De Mattos, M Simão, G Karagounis – D Salpingidis (sub: H Postiga, 67), D N’Doye. Substitutes not used: A Malrz, S Ninis, E Gonzalez, D Papadopolous, A Seric, A Ivanschitz. Booked: Nilsson, Simão.

Referee: N Rizzoli (Italy).