Rangers are a club with a split personality searching for consistency

In a way, it is curious that European football has provided salvation for Rangers in recent times. In 2011, aggregate defeats by Malmö and Maribor at least accelerated financial implosion that crystallised six months later. The 2017 Europa League exit at the hands of Progrès Niederkorn was compounded by the sight of the Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha gesticulating at irate supporters while standing in a bush. A club which prides itself on stature had been reduced to a laughing stock.

With time, and managerial change, has come stark Rangers improvement against foreign opposition. Steven Gerrard oversaw the steady raising of standards in the Europa League before Giovanni van Bronckhorst guided his team to the final last May. A fully deserved playoff victory over PSV Eindhoven returned Rangers to the Champions League while emphasising the theory that this team reserve their best performances for matches away from the domestic scene. Rangers are respected abroad once more; just ask Borussia Dortmund or RB Leipzig.

Rangers have subsequently been reacquainted with the harsh realities associated with the Champions League. They were dreadful in Amsterdam and found themselves 3-0 down inside 35 minutes to Ajax. The Dutch champions showed clemency in scoring only one more. Rangers were markedly better when Napoli visited but a careless red card for James Sands allowed the Italian club all the leeway they required to ease to a 3-0 win. Rangers’ record is thus far the worst of all 32 teams in the group phase. For a club never short of ego, that will sting.

Rangers supporters will claim, not unreasonably, that it is unfair to draw sharp conclusions from matches against the continent’s finest teams. The gap between the haves and