Updated: May 1, 2008, 5:57 PM EST 69 comments

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Following 210 minutes of scoreless play over two legs, Spanish forward Nacho Novo converted the decisive penalty after Fabio Liverani and Christian Vieri failed for Fiorentina.

"Personally, I thought European cup finals were way past for me," said Rangers manager Walter Smith, who coached his 66th European match. "I'm delighted for everyone on this team and everyone that has supported us this year."

In the final, Rangers will face Zenit St. Petersburg, which routed Bayern Munich 4-0 earlier to advance 5-1 on aggregate. The championship match is on May 14 at the City of Manchester Stadium in England - south of the Scotland border.

"That was a fantastic result they achieved tonight," Smith said of Zenit. "It shows what a quality opponent they are. We look forward to meeting them in the final."

Rangers has lifted a single European trophy in its history - the Cup Winners' Cup in 1972.

Rangers landed in the UEFA Cup after a third-place finish in its Champions League group.

Until the shootout, the match was a virtual replica of the scoreless draw in the first leg. Fiorentina controlled throughout, while Rangers appeared content to let the match be decided on penalties.

"It's a huge disappointment. Our team deserved to reach the final," Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli said. "We just didn't have the luck on our side. We had so many opportunities and it would have done us good to have been slightly calmer, but it's only natural to be frenetic in a semifinal."

Fiorentina took the match's first 15 shots and finished with a 29-7 advantage.

"You have to give Fiorentina credit," Smith said. "We're a very difficult team to score against. I don't think Fiorentina could have done much more than they did."

In the end, Fiorentina's most experienced player - former Italy forward Vieri - sent his penalty way over the bar.

"I know him well, and he'll be very disappointed," Prandelli said. "But I'm more worried about the injuries to (Marco) Donadel, Liverani and Vieri - who hurt himself on his penalty shot - than their minds."

Fiorentina still is two point ahead of AC Milan in the race for the final Champions League berth in Serie A.

Rangers trail Celtic by five points in the Scottish league.

Rangers was reduced to 10 men in the 109th minute when second-half substitute Daniel Cousin earned his second yellow card putting his forehead against Liverani, who reacted as if he had been head-butted.

At one point in the second half, Rangers kicked the ball out of bounds as if the team wasn't interested in scoring.

"When you see that kind of commitment to keep it 0-0, that was fantastic," Smith said.

Rangers' first shot on goal didn't come until the 77th minute, when Steven Davis' close-range effort was stopped by Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey.

Otherwise, Rangers parried shot after shot from the Viola, giving the capacity crowd of 39,130 at Artemio Franchi stadium little to cheer for.

Fiorentina fans hadn't witnessed a European semifinal since Ronaldo and FC Barcelona took advantage of a suspended Gabriel Batistuta in the Cup Winners' Cup 10 years ago.

Aiming for its first European final in 36 years, Rangers also had a big following, and some 8,000 Scottish supporters flew in from Glasgow. With the entire city in a festive atmosphere for May Day, the visiting fans laid their banners down in front of the Duomo cathedral and mingled with the locals without any problems reported.

There was room only for 2,400 visiting fans inside the stadium, so the others watched outside on a jumbo screen.

Fiorentina won its only major international trophy by beating Rangers home and away in the first Cup Winners' Cup in 1961. Players from that game sang Fiorentina's anthem before kickoff.