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There was impressive effectiveness about the way the Italian side dealt with this journey to Scotland. Without much drama. Roma from Rome did, nonetheless, meet favourable opposition when placing their Europa League bid back on track. Observers noted a glaring gulf in quality between Roma and a the Scottish team side that has now lost a team record seven continental matches consecutively.

Positively, the home side at least huffed and puffed during a later period when surrender felt the more likely option. However, the game was decided as a competition at that stage. The Scottish club remain rooted to the bottom of the Europa League, which should represent an embarrassment to a team of such stature. Roma have eyes once more on making proper impact. One slight disappointment here was in not delivering a scoreline appropriately depicting men against boys.

Surprisingly, this represented only the Roman club’s second-ever European joust with Scottish opposition since the historic Fairs Cup fixtures with Hibs in the early 60s. Their last such match, against Dundee United 23 years later, became marred (to put it politely) by the bribing of a referee. In those days, teams from Scotland could compete with the best in Europe. This season has seen the co-efficient drop to a level that will shortly have huge ramifications.

Danny Röhl’s main quality so far as the fanbase are concerned is that he is not Russell Martin. Martin’s dismal spell as the manager lasted 123 days in the initial phase of this season. Röhl, the new man at the helm, has shown promise albeit within a tiny sample size. The technical areas saw a clash of generations; the Rangers boss is 36, his counterpart Gian Piero Gasperini is sixty-seven.

Another element was much more noticeable as the teams lined up. The home team’s glaring short stature against the Italians looked ominous. This point was confirmed within the opening quarter-hour as Bryan Cristante easily redirected a corner at the near post. Following up, Matías Soulé burst forward to knock his team ahead. The visitors minus the unavailable their young striker and their star attacker, who have been criticised for bluntness even with reasonable performances in the tournament, were delighted with their early advantage.

Rangers should have equalised instantly. Rather, the forward sent his effort off target after a mix-up in the Roma defence. The player’s £8m purchase from Everton has increased scrutiny of the Rangers transfer hierarchy. He has at least the physical attributes to be an productive striker but appears unwilling or unable to utilize them fully.

Roma controlled first-half possession thereafter. They extended their advantage through their captain, whose bent effort into the bottom corner of Jack Butland’s net came after a pass from Artem Dovbyk. The hosts will bemoan the fact the midfielder was left in complete freedom but it was a superb finish. Ibrox, usually a boisterous place on European nights, had been silenced nine minutes until halftime. Even the boos which met the half-time whistle were subdued; the home team were clearly in the midst of being overwhelmed.

After the break started against a unusual atmosphere. Those Rangers fans turned their attentions for the latest time towards the club’s chief executive, the CEO, and transfer chief, Kevin Thelwell. Two banners, clearly sinister in tone, depicted the pair with bullseyes on their images. It raises questions what the club owner thinks about all this. Ultimately, Andrew Cavenagh had an anonymous life as a wealthy entrepreneur in the United States before fronting a takeover of Rangers. Fans have not targeted Cavenagh yet but there is a rebellious mood in the air. This is easy to understand; The team’s leadership is completely unconvincing.

As if scripted, the striker was played in on the keeper on the 60-minute mark and hit the outside of the goal. This actually triggered Rangers’ finest spell of the game, in which their substitute the young midfielder fired just wide. It was, nonetheless, difficult to gauge Roma’s continued attacking motivation until Zeki Celik was presented with a chance from close range which he inexplicably hit up and onto the underside of the bar.

That was it as far as meaningful chances were concerned. The raft of substitutions from both teams resulted in this game ended more in the style of a summer exhibition than serious contest. This of course suited the Italians fine. It prompted reflection to ponder how exactly Rangers, finalists in this tournament in recently and strong enough of the last eight a season ago, arrived at the stage of making up the numbers.