Glasgow Rangers continued their depressing return to the Champions League on Wednesday night, having suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Serie A facet Napoli in what was a very one-sided affair on the night time.
That outcome noticed the hosts safe a twelfth consecutive victory in all competitions for the primary time of their historical past, whereas Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s facet are now presently nearing a file of their very own, because the Old Firm outfit edge nearer to what could be the worst group stage file within the event’s historical past.
The Glasgow facet seem destined at current to undergo a worse destiny than present file holders Dinamo Zagreb who misplaced all six group video games in the course of the 2011/12 season and completed with a aim distinction of -19, with that ‘achievement’ one which the Scottish giants will probably be determined to keep away from.
This newest loss noticed an early brace from Giovanni Simeone swiftly shelve any slim hopes of victory for the guests, albeit with the Gers placing up a courageous second-half show to restrict any larger harm, with solely a late Leo Ostigard header bolstering the scoreline additional for Luciano Spalletti’s facet.
In fact, it was the identical outdated story so far as the Ibrox outfit are involved as they have been merely outclassed by their in-form opponents, with Van Bronckhorst’s males having discovered the step as much as life in Europe’s premier competitors notably tough.
Although such struggles might properly have been anticipated from the membership’s youthful core, there has little doubt been shock on the lack of affect from the extra senior members of the squad, with the likes of Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and James Tavernier having been notably off the boil of late.
The latter man has seemed a shell of the determine who helped drag his facet to the Europa League remaining final time period – offering 9 aim contributions in simply 14 video games throughout that surge to the showpiece – having didn’t register a single aim or help within the group stage to this point.
There have been solutions that the £9m-rated skipper is struggling for health at current, though regardless of the case ‘something just doesn’t really feel proper‘, as stated by Glasgow Live’s Ben Banks.
The 30-year-old’s woes have been considerably “baffling” in line with The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell, with the Englishman having made “such simple mistakes” as soon as once more away in Italy, notably dropping possession 19 instances from his 81 touches.
The £24k-per-week full-back additionally received simply three of his eight whole duels and accomplished solely three of his seven crosses, together with his match score of 6.2, as per SofaScore, the second-worst of any participant on the day.
To see the Bradford-born ace – who solely just lately signed a brand new long-term deal on the membership – struggling is an actual trigger for concern for Van Bronckhorst at current, notably with no senior different to take the right-back’s place within the facet.
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