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There was impressive effectiveness in the way Roma dealt with this journey to Scotland. Without much drama. Roma from Rome did, however, face manageable rivals when placing their European competition bid back on track. Observers noted a obvious gulf in quality between the Serie A outfit and a Rangers squad that has now suffered defeat in a club record seven European games in a row.

To their credit, the home side at least fought hard during a second half when surrender felt the more likely outcome. Yet, the match was decided as a competition by then. Rangers remain rooted to the foot of the Europa League, which should represent an embarrassment to a team of this standing. The Giallorossi have eyes again on achieving significant success. One slight disappointment here was in not delivering a result that truly reflected the mismatch in quality.

Surprisingly, this marked only Roma’s second-ever European joust with Scottish opposition since Fairs Cup business with Hibs in 1961. Their last such match, against the Terrors 23 years later, became overshadowed (to put it mildly) by the corruption of a match official. In those days, Scottish clubs could vie with the top sides in the continent. The current campaign has seen the UEFA coefficient drop to a level that will shortly have major consequences.

Danny Röhl’s main quality up to now as the fanbase are concerned is that he is not Russell Martin. The latter’s ghastly tenure as the head coach continued for just over four months in the early part of this season. Röhl, the new man at the helm, has shown promise though within a tiny sample size. The technical areas witnessed a generation game; the Rangers boss is 36, his counterpart the Roma manager is sixty-seven.

Another element was much more noticeable as the sides took the field. Rangers’ glaring lack of height against the visitors looked worrying. That concern was confirmed within 13 minutes as the Roma midfielder comfortably redirected a set-piece at the front post. At the back, the Argentine winger burst forward to fire Roma ahead. A Roma team minus the unavailable Evan Ferguson and Paulo Dybala, who have been questioned for lack of cutting edge even with decent results in this campaign, were delighted with their early advantage.

The Ibrox side could have equalised instantly. Instead, Youssef Chermiti screwed his shot wide after a mix-up in the Roma defence. Chermiti’s £8m purchase from the Toffees has piled pressure on the club’s recruitment team. He has at least the physical attributes to be an effective striker but seems unwilling or unable to utilize them fully.

Roma controlled opening period the ball thereafter. Roma doubled their lead through Lorenzo Pellegrini, whose curling shot into the bottom corner of the goalkeeper’s net came after a lay off from Artem Dovbyk. The hosts will bemoan the fact the midfielder was left in blissful isolation but it was a gorgeous finish. The stadium, typically a raucous venue on European nights, had been silenced with time still remaining before the break. Even the boos which greeted the half-time whistle were timid; Rangers were clearly in the process of being overwhelmed.

The second period started against a unusual backdrop. Those Rangers fans directed their focus once again towards the top executive, the CEO, and sporting director, Kevin Thelwell. A pair of displays, clearly sinister in message, showed the pair with bullseyes on their images. It raises questions what the Rangers chairman thinks about all this. After all, Andrew Cavenagh had an anonymous life as a successful businessman in the US before leading a takeover of Rangers. Paying punters have not turned on Cavenagh yet but there is a mutinous mood in the air. It is one which is easy to understand; Rangers’ leadership is completely unimpressive.

Right on cue, Chermiti was sent through on the keeper on the 60-minute mark and hit the side netting. That moment sparked Rangers’ best period of the game, in which their replacement Thelo Aasgaard shot narrowly past the post. It was, however, hard to determine the visitors’ continued offensive intent until the full-back was given a opportunity all of a yard out which he somehow lifted and onto the bottom of the crossbar.

That opportunity as far as meaningful opportunity were concerned. The raft of changes from both teams meant this game closed more in the style of a summer exhibition than competitive match. This of course suited the Italians perfectly. There was cause to ponder how exactly Rangers, runners-up in this competition in 2022 and worthy of the quarter-finals a season ago, reached the point of making up the numbers.