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Roma displayed admirable efficiency about the way Roma handled this journey to Glasgow. Minimum of fuss. Roma from Italy’s capital did, however, face manageable rivals when placing their Europa League bid back on track. There was a obvious difference in class between the Serie A outfit and a Rangers squad that has now suffered defeat in a team record seven continental matches in a row.

To their credit, Rangers at least huffed and puffed during a later period when surrender felt the probable option. Yet, the match was decided as a competition by then. The Scottish club remain anchored at the foot of the Europa League, which should constitute an embarrassment to a club of such stature. The Giallorossi have ambitions once more on making proper impact. One slight disappointment here was in not producing a scoreline appropriately depicting men against boys.

Surprisingly, this marked only the Roman club’s second-ever continental encounter with Scottish opposition since Fairs Cup business with Hibs in 1961. The previous one, against Dundee United 23 years later, became marred (to put it politely) by the bribing of a match official. In those days, Scottish clubs could vie with the best in Europe. The current campaign has seen the co-efficient drop to a point that will soon have major ramifications.

The new manager’s key attribute up to now as the Rangers support are see it is that he is not Russell Martin. The latter’s dismal spell as the manager continued for 123 days in the early part of the campaign. Röhl, the new man at the helm, has shown promise though within a tiny sample size. The dugouts witnessed a clash of generations; Röhl is thirty-six, his counterpart Gian Piero Gasperini is 67.

Another element was much more noticeable as the sides took the field. The home team’s obvious lack of height against the visitors looked ominous. That concern was proven within the opening quarter-hour as the Roma midfielder comfortably flicked on a corner at the front post. At the back, Matías Soulé sprinted into space to knock his team in front. The visitors minus the unavailable Evan Ferguson and their star attacker, who have been questioned for lack of cutting edge despite reasonable performances in this campaign, were pleased with their quick lead.

The Ibrox side should have levelled matters immediately. Instead, the forward sent his effort off target after a defensive error in the visitors’ backline. The player’s £8m purchase from Everton has piled pressure on the Rangers transfer hierarchy. Chermiti possesses at least the physique to be an effective centre forward but appears reluctant or incapable to utilize them fully.

Roma dominated first-half the ball from that point. They extended their advantage through Lorenzo Pellegrini, whose bent effort into the bottom corner of the goalkeeper’s net came after a pass from the Ukrainian forward. The hosts will bemoan the fact the midfielder was left in blissful isolation but it was a superb strike. The stadium, typically a raucous place on continental evenings, had been silenced nine minutes until halftime. Even the boos which met the half-time whistle were subdued; Rangers were clearly in the process of being outclassed.

After the break began against a curious atmosphere. Those Rangers fans directed their focus for the latest time towards the club’s chief executive, Patrick Stewart, and transfer chief, Kevin Thelwell. A pair of displays, obviously sinister in tone, showed the pair with targets on their images. One wonders what the club owner thinks about the situation. After all, the chairman had an anonymous life as a successful businessman in the United States before leading a acquisition of Rangers. Paying punters have not turned on the owner yet but there is a rebellious feeling around the club. It is one which is easy to understand; The team’s management is completely unimpressive.

Right on cue, Chermiti was played in on goal on the 60-minute mark and found only the outside of the goal. This actually triggered Rangers’ best period of the match, in which their substitute Thelo Aasgaard shot narrowly past the post. It was, however, difficult to determine the visitors’ continued offensive intent until the full-back was presented with a chance all of a yard out which he inexplicably hit up and on to the underside of the crossbar.

That opportunity as far as meaningful opportunity were involved. The series of changes from each side resulted in this game closed more in the style of a summer exhibition than serious contest. This of course suited the Italians fine. It prompted reflection to ponder how on earth the Glasgow club, finalists in this competition in recently and worthy of the last eight a last year, reached the stage of making up the numbers.