GLASGOW - Rangers emerged with a precious point from their Champions League clash with Barcelona despite being handed a footballing masterclass by the Catalan giants.
Barcelona arrived at Ibrox determined to take all three points and Ronaldinho, Messi and Carles Puyol all came close during a fraught 90 minutes.
However, they were ultimately frustrated by a stubborn Rangers side, who held on for the draw that keeps them joint top of the section.
When the draw was made for this year's Champions League, Rangers were given little hope of even finishing third in Group E.
But they started the campaign well with a home win over Stuttgart, before sending shockwaves throughout the continent with a 3-0 away victory over perennial French champions Lyon in matchday two.
All of a sudden, hopes were high that Rangers could qualify from a section dubbed 'the group of death.' However, they faced their toughest test yet in the shape of Barcelona.
Manager Walter Smith named the same side who defeated Celtic at the weekend, with Nacho Novo dropping back to midfield and Daniel Cousin once again taking on the lone striker role he performed so well in Lyon.
Jean-Claude Darcheville and Brahim Hemdani were unavailable through injury, while Barca were without the creative skills of Deco, who limped out of their defeat at Villarreal at the weekend.
Ronaldinho was restored to the starting line-up - he missed the 3-1 reverse at El Madrigal after returning late from international duty - allowing Barcelona to opt for a formidable three-pronged attack in the shape of Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Messi.
The first real chance of the match fell to Rangers when Cousin was fouled by Lilian Thuram a few yards in front of the corner flag.
Barry Ferguson presided over the resultant free-kick but his effort was comfortably collected by goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
At the other end, Henry won a corner for the visitors which was swung into the box by Xabi. Eidur Gudjohnsen rose above everyone else to nod just over the crossbar.
Rangers were threatening again when Nacho Novo whipped a cross into the goalmouth and Cousin squeezed between Gabriel Milito and Puyol only to fail to connect with the header six yards out.
But it was only a matter of time before Barcelona stamped their authority on the game and Rangers spent the rest of the half surviving an onslaught.
The home side were forced into last-gasp defending when Carlos Cuellar hooked a Messi effort off the line.
Rangers were then under pressure again when Ronaldinho was hacked down by Alan Hutton 25 yards out. The Brazilian took the free-kick himself but was denied by the woodwork when the effort crashed off the crossbar and over.
Kevin Thomson picked up the first booking of the match for a foul on Henry just outside the box but, this time, Ronaldinho drove the set-piece against the Rangers wall.
Ronaldinho then turned provider, picking out Puyol with a long ball on the right flank, but the Barca skipper was denied the opener when his header was tipped over by Allan McGregor.
Neither team made any changes at the interval and Milito became the first Barcelona player to be cautioned just two minutes after the restart for a foul on Cousin.
He was quickly followed into the book by Sasa Papac, for a challenge on Messi on the edge of the area, but the resultant free-kick from Ronaldinho was cleared by a stubborn Rangers defence.
Barcelona surged forward in numbers in search of the opener and were displaying some wonderful passing football.
However, McGregor was far from troubled by a poor long range effort from Xabi, who blasted well over the crossbar from 35 yards.
Rangers had a rare chance to put their visitors under pressure with a free-kick a yard in front of the nearside corner flag but Charlie Adam's ball into the box was cleared by Henry.
Henry should have opened the scoring for the La Liga side when he connected with a Xavi corner but somehow managed to nod over from close range.
Sighs of relief from the Ibrox crowd were then replaced by groans of despair as Novo and Ferguson both narrowly failed to connect with a Cousin cross, as the ball fizzed across goal and wide.
David Weir - who had been excellent in the heart of defence all evening - was booked before Cousin hooked agonisingly wide as Rangers tried to snatch the winner.
In the end, both teams were forced to settle for the draw, as the match ended without any goals but far from lacking in entertainment.
