It was a sore one for Rangers as they kicked off their Champions League group stage campaign with a 4-0 thumping in Amsterdam.
Ajax were simply too strong for Gio van Bronckhorst 's men who went in three goals behind at the break before conceding a fourth late on. And it could have been worse for the visitors, with their performance below par throughout. The defeat means that the Light Blues have conceded four in each of their last two clashes, one domesticall against Celtic and another in front of the eyes of Europe.
And if their next Champions League opponents keep up their form, things could become even more bleak at Ibrox next week. Napoli are the visitors in Govan in Rangers' the second fixture of the competition's group stage. The Serie A side welcomed Liverpool to Naples in the other Group A opener on Wednesday night and put on an impressive display to thrash Jurgen Klopp's men 4-1.
A Piotr Zielinksi penalty opened the scoring for the Italians just five minutes in after a James Milner hand ball in the box. And things went from back to worse for the Premier League side just by the half hour mark when Napoli doubled their lead through Zambo Anguissa.
It took just 13 minutes for a third to pass Alisson in the Liverpool goal when Giovanni Simeone made it 3-0 just before the break.
There would have been a fair few stern words from Jurgen Klopp at half time, but the Serie A side weren't messing about as they started the second 45 with a goal. It was Zielinski again with the fourth.
The Scousers pulled one back minutes later when Luis Diaz hit home, but the three goal deficit provides a warning to Rangers.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst admitted after the Ajax clash that his side simply cannot compete with Europe's elite. But that doesn't negate from the fact the men in Light Blue still have five games left to play in Group A.
And if their performance on Wednesday is anything to go by, it could be a case of watching from behind fingers for Gers fans next week.
READ NEXT
