The angry scenes came after thousands of fans were left outraged when a screen meant to be showing the game in the Piccadilly Garden fan zone failed to work.

Fans lined the streets and the mood became tense when disgruntled supporters - who had waited all day to see the historic tie with Zenit St Petersburg - were unable to watch the game.

Riot police deployed around the area faced hostile Rangers fans lobbing bottles and cans at them.

After backing off for a while, police charged the fans, pushing them back.

After one clash, a fan lay on the floor and appeared to be injured.

Other fans taunted officers by filming them with their mobile phones, while police fended them off, hitting them with their shields and batons.

The unpleasant scenes marred the good-natured party atmosphere which had characterised the lengthy build-up to the match - one of the most important games in Rangers' history.

More than 100,000 fans were estimated to have gathered in the city centre, turning it into a sea of red, white and blue.

They were joined by around 9000 Zenit fans, who were given an equal share of tickets for the 44,000 capacity City of Manchester Stadium.

But in the end, thousands of Rangers fans streamed out of the stadium, heartbroken after their European dream was left in tatters.

If Rangers had won the match, they would have been the first Scottish team to land a European trophy for 25 years.

Downhearted supporters said they were "devastated" and seemed disappointed with their team's performance.

Paul Johnson, 25, from the Knightswood area of Glasgow, said: "I'm absolutely gutted. We were so close to a historic victory for our club but we just couldn't perform on the night.

"It was just a dream for us and we didn't quite make it."

Ian Anderson, 19, from Fife, said: "I'm absolutely devastated. We should have had a penalty, but to be honest they had more of the ball. They created more chances."

Alan Bedford, 22, from Renfrewshire, said: "Of course I was totally gutted but we didn't expect to be there at the start of this season. We were chasing four trophies and we're still in for three. I'm chuffed with that."

And Scott McBride, 19, from Loch Lomond, was "disappointed" with his team's performance, saying: "We can't expect to go out there just defending and win the game.

"Obviously the whole lot of us are very upset but we didn't play as we should have done."

A Russian fan was on Wednesday stabbed outside the City of Manchester football stadium but suffered non-life threatening injuries, Greater Manchester Police said.