Rangers will take a substantial lead to Italy in two weeks' time and it may be sufficient to propel them into the Champions League for the first time in six years. They more than matched the Italians, showing much improvement in European form to delight a crowd of 50,000 at Ibrox.

They were certainly helped by the sending off of Fabio Cannavaro, that most experienced of defenders in the first half and Tony Vidmar's goal owed much to a huge deflection. But their general play was more than worthy of a win based on consistently good passing, a fact they underlined when Claudio Reyna's goal deep into the game brought them within touching distance of the place they yearn to be.

The manager Dick Advocaat was not afraid to go seeking an important second goal. In the 55th minute he replaced the goalscorer Vidmar with Jorg Albertz to gain more attacking momentum on the left. But the Italians had rediscovered some shape with Tarrisi's presence.

The goal came in the 76th minute and it owed much to Wallace's pace. He won a long sprint down the right and hit a low cross. McCann touched it back to Reyna whose low shot was drilled past Buffon.

Rangers now seem in a perfect position to win the tie.

Rangers: Klos, Porrini, Moore, Amoruso, Vidmar (Albertz 55), Ferguson, Van Bronckhorst, Mols, Wallace, Reyna, McCann. Subs Not Used: Niemi, Amato, Adamczuk, Wilson, Johansson, McInnes. Booked: Amoruso, Albertz. Goals: Vidmar 32, Reyna 76.

Parma: Buffon, Sartor, Baggio (Fuser 60), Ortega (Torrisi 37), Boghossian, Cannavaro, Di Vaio (Stanic 85), Thuram, Serena, Vanoli, Walem. Subs Not Used: Micillo, Benarrivo, Breda, Montano. Sent Off: Cannavaro (26). Booked: Cannavaro, Thuram, Vanoli.

Referee: J Encinar (Spain).