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There was impressive effectiveness about the way Roma dealt with this trip to Glasgow. Minimum of fuss. The team from Italy’s capital did, nonetheless, face manageable rivals when putting their Europa League bid back on track. There was a obvious difference in class between Roma and a Rangers squad that has now suffered defeat in a club record seven continental matches in a row.

Positively, the home side at least fought hard during a later period when surrender felt the probable option. However, the game was decided as a competition by then. The Scottish club remain anchored at the bottom of the Europa League, which should represent an disgrace to a team of such stature. The Giallorossi have eyes again on achieving significant success. One slight disappointment in this match was in not delivering a scoreline that truly reflected the mismatch in quality.

Amazingly, this represented only Roma’s second European joust with a team from Scotland since the historic Fairs Cup fixtures with Hibs in 1961. Their last such match, against the Terrors 23 years later, became marred (to put it politely) by the corruption of a match official. In those days, Scottish clubs could compete with the best in the continent. The current campaign has seen the UEFA coefficient plunge to a point that will soon have major consequences.

The new manager’s key attribute up to now as the Rangers support are concerned is that he is not Russell Martin. Martin’s ghastly tenure as the head coach lasted 123 days in the initial phase of the campaign. Röhl, the new man at the helm, has shown promise though 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 sides took the field. Rangers’ obvious short stature against the visitors looked ominous. That concern was proven within the opening quarter-hour as the Roma midfielder easily redirected a corner at the front post. At the back, the Argentine winger burst forward to fire his team in front. The visitors minus the injured Evan Ferguson and Paulo Dybala, who have been criticised for lack of cutting edge despite decent results in this campaign, were pleased with their quick lead.

Rangers could have levelled matters instantly. Instead, the forward screwed his shot wide after a defensive error in the visitors’ backline. Chermiti’s £8m signing from Everton has piled pressure on the Rangers transfer hierarchy. He has at least the physical attributes to be an effective striker but appears unwilling or unable to utilize them fully.

Roma controlled opening period the ball from that point. Roma doubled their lead through Lorenzo Pellegrini, whose bent effort into the bottom corner of Jack Butland’s net arrived after a lay off from Artem Dovbyk. The hosts will lament the fact Pellegrini was left in complete freedom but it was a superb strike. The stadium, typically a boisterous venue on continental evenings, had been silenced nine minutes before the break. The discontent which met the half-time whistle were subdued; the home team were simply in the midst of being outclassed.

After the break started against a curious atmosphere. Supporters directed their focus for the latest time towards the top executive, the CEO, and sporting director, Kevin Thelwell. A pair of displays, clearly sinister in message, depicted the duo with bullseyes on their images. One wonders what the club owner thinks about all this. After all, Andrew Cavenagh enjoyed an low-profile career as a wealthy entrepreneur in the US before leading a takeover of Rangers. Fans have not turned on Cavenagh so far but there is a rebellious feeling around the club. This is easy to understand; Rangers’ management is wholly unconvincing.

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’ finest spell of the match, in which their replacement Thelo Aasgaard fired just wide. Yet, nonetheless, difficult to determine Roma’s remaining attacking motivation until the full-back was presented with a opportunity all of a yard out which he inexplicably hit up and on to the underside of the bar.

That opportunity as far as clear-cut chances were involved. The series of substitutions from both teams meant this fixture closed more in the style of a pre-season friendly than competitive match. That scenario benefited the Italians fine. It prompted reflection to ponder how exactly the Glasgow club, finalists in this competition in 2022 and worthy of the quarter-finals a season ago, reached the stage of just participating.