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There was impressive effectiveness about the way Roma dealt with this trip to Scotland. Without much drama. Roma from Rome did, nonetheless, face manageable rivals when placing their European competition bid on the right path. There was a glaring gulf in quality between the Serie A outfit and a Rangers squad that has now suffered defeat in a team record seven European games in a row.

Positively, Rangers at least huffed and puffed during a second half when surrender felt the probable outcome. However, the game was settled as a competition by then. The Scottish club remain rooted to the foot of the tournament, which should represent an embarrassment to a club of such stature. The Giallorossi have ambitions once more on achieving significant success. Their only regret here was in not delivering a scoreline appropriately depicting men against boys.

Surprisingly, this marked only Roma’s second continental encounter with a team from Scotland since the historic Fairs Cup business with Hibernian in 1961. The previous one, against Dundee United over two decades later, became marred (to put it politely) by the bribing of a match official. Back then, Scottish clubs could compete with the best in the continent. The current campaign has seen the UEFA coefficient plunge to a point that will shortly have huge ramifications.

The new manager’s main quality so far as the Rangers support are see it is that he isn’t his predecessor. The latter’s dismal spell as the manager continued for just over four months in the initial phase of the campaign. The German coach, the recent appointment at the helm, has shown promise albeit within a tiny sample size. The technical areas saw a clash of generations; the Rangers boss is thirty-six, his counterpart the Roma manager is sixty-seven.

A further factor was much more noticeable as the teams lined up. The home team’s glaring short stature against the Italians looked worrying. This point was confirmed within 13 minutes as Bryan Cristante comfortably redirected a corner at the front post. At the back, Matías Soulé sprinted into space to knock Roma ahead. The visitors without the unavailable their young striker and their star attacker, who have been questioned for lack of cutting edge despite decent performances in this campaign, were pleased with their quick lead.

The Ibrox side should have levelled matters instantly. Instead, the forward sent his effort off target after a mix-up in the visitors’ backline. The player’s eight-million-pound signing from the Toffees has piled pressure on the Rangers transfer hierarchy. He has at least the physical attributes to be an productive striker but appears unwilling or unable to use them.

Roma dominated first-half possession thereafter. Roma extended their advantage through Lorenzo Pellegrini, whose bent effort into the bottom corner of the goalkeeper’s net arrived after a pass from the Ukrainian forward. The hosts will bemoan the fact the midfielder stood in blissful isolation but it was a superb finish. The stadium, typically a boisterous venue on European nights, had been silenced with time still remaining until halftime. The discontent which greeted the interval were timid; Rangers were clearly in the process of being overwhelmed.

The second period began against a curious atmosphere. Those Rangers fans turned their attentions for the latest time towards the club’s chief executive, the CEO, and transfer chief, the director. Two banners, obviously menacing in tone, showed the duo with targets on their images. It raises questions what the Rangers chairman makes of the situation. After all, the chairman had an low-profile life as a successful businessman in the US before leading a acquisition of this club. Fans have not targeted the owner so far but there is a rebellious mood in the air. This is unsurprising; The team’s leadership is completely unconvincing.

Right on cue, Chermiti was sent through on the keeper on the hour mark and found only the side netting. This actually triggered Rangers’ finest spell of the match, in which their replacement the young midfielder shot narrowly past the post. It was, however, hard to gauge the visitors’ continued offensive intent until Zeki Celik was presented with a opportunity all of a yard out which he inexplicably lifted and onto the bottom of the crossbar.

That opportunity as far as clear-cut opportunity were involved. The raft of changes from both teams meant this fixture closed more in the style of a summer exhibition than competitive match. That scenario benefited Roma fine. It prompted reflection to consider how on earth Rangers, runners-up in this tournament in recently and worthy of the quarter-finals a season ago, arrived at the stage of making up the numbers.