Rangers Champions League indignity makes Gio's transfer stance look like wishful thinking - big match verdict

Gio van Bronckhorst was adamant he had no regrets over the fact Rangers kept the wallet shut on deadline day.

But carry on like this and the stunned Ibrox boss is going to spend plenty of time in the weeks ahead lamenting the failure to properly equip his team for the challenges ahead. As if being pummelled at Parkhead wasn’t bad enough, now there’s the indignity of being annihilated in Amsterdam on their Champions League return.

Having spent 12 years on the outside looking in, the Light Blues can be forgiven for asking themselves just why they were in such a rush to break back into the group stages. They may have more than held their own in the Europa League last year – but they quickly learned UEFA’s top tournament is another level entirely. There could have been two balls on the pitch and van Bronckhorst ’s team would have struggled to get a touch against an Ajax side brimming with class and quality.

Calvin Bassey has taken no time adapting to the standards required by his new Dutch master Alfred Schreuder. The Ibrox old boy barely broke sweat as goals from Edson Alvarez, Steven Berghuis, Mohammed Kudus and Steven Bergwijn gave the Eredivisie champs the easiest of wins.

Ajax were welcomed out the tunnel by a frenzied display of white flags and it wouldn’t be long before Gers were surrendering any hope of a shock win in their Group A opener. The defensive lapses that hurt them so badly at Parkhead were again there for all to see in the Johan Cruyff Arena.

Tormented, twisted and bent all out of shape, this was a brutal lesson in the reality of life amongst the big boys. Rangers were shown up as a team lacking what it takes to cope with Celtic’s rampant firepower during Saturday’s Old Firm dismembering.

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