Novo kept his cool to convert the decisive spot-kick after Alexander had saved from Fabio Liverani and Christian Vieri had missed in a tense penalty shoot-out.

The full 210 minutes of football failed to separate the two clubs as the tie finished goalless.

But Rangers will now feature in their first European final since lifting the European Cup Winners' Cup back in 1972, when they face former Light Blues boss Dick Advocaat's Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester on May 14.

Rangers were handed a massive boost ahead of kick-off with the news that David Weir had passed a late fitness test after initially being ruled out with a groin injury sustained in Sunday's Old Firm derby.

His quick recovery allowed Walter Smith to name his preferred central defensive pairing of Weir and Carlos Cuellar for the first time since the midweek defeat to Celtic on April 16 as a result of suspensions for both players since then.

Jean-Claude Darcheville started as the lone striker ahead of Daniel Cousin, with Barry Ferguson and Kevin Thomson both included after missing the first leg through suspension.

Rangers found themselves under pressure early on when Steven Whittaker's foul on Martin Jorgensen provided Fiorentina with a free kick in a dangerous area.

Liverani presided over the set-piece 25 yards out but failed to trouble Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander, who gathered comfortably at the far post.

A scuffed shot from Adrian Mutu - the club's top scorer in Europe this season with six goals - was also collected by the goalkeeper, before Riccardo Montolivo blasted well over.

Thomson, back in action after serving a European ban, added to his collection of yellow cards when he picked up the first booking of the game with 28 minutes gone for dissent after fouling Mario Santana.

Good play between Ferguson and Darcheville allowed Rangers to push into the box shortly before the break, their only real attack to that stage, but the offside flag was raised before Ferguson could unleash a shot.

Marco Donadel - suspended for the first leg - hobbled out of the action four minutes before the interval and was replaced by Zdravko Kuzmanovic, as the Italians reverted to the starting 11 from Glasgow.

Mutu attempted to spark the tie into life after the restart when he collected a long ball from Santana only to screw wide under pressure from Kirk Broadfoot.

The former Chelsea striker then turned provider when he whipped a teasing cross to the feet of Giampaolo Pazzini who stabbed inches wide of the near upright.

A blocked shot from Liverani broke to Fiorentina skipper Tomas Ujfalusi who unleashed a ferocious shot that dipped just over the crossbar as the home side cranked up the pressure another notch.

With 25 minutes remaining, Rangers made their first change when Darcheville was replaced by Cousin.

Only the heroics of Alexander kept the scoreline level when Liverani tapped a free kick to Mutu and the goalkeeper did well to block a thunderous 30-yard shot from the Romanian.

Alexander failed to hold the ball but managed to smother just in time as Pazzini bore down on goal for the rebound.

Weir and Cousin both went in the referee's book before Steven Davis saw his flick held by Sebastien Frey after the Viola goalkeeper's defence had failed to clear the danger.

Vieri was thrown into the action with 10 minutes to go and he immediately squandered a great opportunity, stumbling over the ball in front of goal and allowing Alexander to come to the rescue again.

With the clock running down, Davis made way for Novo but it was Whittaker who drew an excellent save from Frey with a curling left-footed shot as the 90 minutes ended goalless and extra time beckoned.

Vieri saw a shot fizz across the face of goal in the first minute of extra time, before Cousin's header was held by the goalkeeper and a shot from the Rangers striker was deflected over.

With this epic tie destined to be decided by the lottery of a penalty shoot-out, Rangers were dealt a blow when Cousin saw red after picking up his second booking of the night for clashing with Liverani after 109 minutes.

Penalties soon arrived as Rangers, with 10 men, held off the Serie A giants, riding their luck at times.

Ferguson took the first penalty and saw his kick saved to hand the advantage to the Italians.

But Alexander blocked from Liverani and Vieri blasted over, allowing Novo to keep his cool and put Rangers into the final.

Zenit St Petersburg secured passage to their first-ever European final in emphatic fashion after inflicting a humiliating 4-0 defeat on Bayern Munich in their UEFA Cup semi-final second-leg clash at Petrovsky Stadium.

After holding the German outfit to a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Allianz Arena last week, first-half goals from Konstatin Zyryanov and Pavel Pogrebniak set Dick Advocaat's men on their way to the final at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14.

Viktor Faitzulin added a third 11 minutes after the restart while Pogrebniak's second of the night after 73 minutes ensured Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld's final European campaign before taking up the reins of the Swiss national team ended on a sour note.

The night ended badly for two-goal hero Pogrebniak, however, after he received a yellow card for an innocuous aerial challenge with Lucio that means the tournament's top scorer, with 11 goals, will not feature in the final.

Bayern almost made a dream start when the hosts were forced to clear off their line inside the first 90 seconds.

Miroslav Klose had the chance, lofting the ball over Zenit goalkeeper Viacheslav Malafeev only to see a defender hook the ball clear of danger.

Zenit, playing without suspended trio Andrei Arshavin, Radek Sirl and Fernando Ricksen, survived that scare to take the lead less than three minutes later.

A free-kick 25 yards out was left to Pogrebniak, who fired home down the middle of the goal when the wall broke in front of the unsighted Oliver Kahn.

Bayern were struggling to fire on all cylinders, perhaps finally showing fatigue as the end of a long season approaches, but Franck Ribery at least created an opening for them after 19 minutes, turning his marker and firing in a bouncing shot from 25 yards that Malafeev gathered at the second attempt.

Two minutes later the hosts almost snuck in for their second when Aleksandr Aniukov broke into the box down the right channel but saw his shot kept out by the right boot of Kahn.

Luca Toni, Bayern's hero in the last round against Getafe, spurned a glorious chance to level after 26 minutes when he headed over from Ribery's centre.

And the Italian's miss took on added significance 13 minutes later as Zenit went two goals ahead.

Alejandro Dominguez passed the ball to Zyrianov, who sent Bayern's Martin Demichelis the wrong way with a delightful body feint before surging into the box and finishing beyond the advancing Kahn with a lofted shot into the left corner.

Bayern might have made more of a game of it in the second half had Toni found the back of the net rather than the fists of Malafeev with a powerful rising shot, but instead the result was put beyond all doubt after 56 minutes.

A brisk Zenit passing move resulted in Aniukov being set free in space down the right channel, and his cross was met with a thundering header by Faitzulin that went straight down the middle of Kahn's goal.

Bastian Schweinsteiger forced a save from the home goalkeeper after 70 minutes and Lukas Podolski skewed the follow-up wide as Bayern's last chance to mount a fightback went begging.

Three minutes later the hosts were home and hosed as Alejandro Dominguez centred low for Pogrebniak to score with a controlled side-footed finish from 18 yards that wrong-footed Kahn and set the seal on a famous win for the Russian champions.

UEFA Cup Semi-Finals

Zenit St Petersburg 4
(Pogrebniak 5, 73, Zurianov 39, Faitzulin 56)
Bayern Munich 0

Fiorentina 0
Rangers 0
(Rangers win 4-2 on penalties)