Four games in and it's been more nothing short of a nightmare return to the Champions League for Rangers.
Giovanni van Bronkhorst's side have suffered four straight losses, with Scott Arfield's strike the only goal of their campaign so far and Wednesday night's 7-1 thrashing at home to Liverpool was yet another reminder of the mammoth leap in standard required to compete in the continent's premier competition.
Such a painful run of defeats prompts the question of whether van Bronckhorst's side could end up ranked among the worst group stage showings once their six fixtures are done and dusted. Their record so far reads P4, W0, D0, L4, 1F, 16A to give a goal difference (GD) of -15. While there's still two fixtures left at home to Ajax and away to Napoli, it's not out of the question they could rack up an all-time howler of a campaign - and find themselves mire in European football's hall of shame.
Statistically, the worst team to compete in the Champions League is Dinamo Zagreb in the 2011/12 edition. The Croats lost all six games, scored just three and conceded 22 for a -19 goal difference. Among the 20 occasions a team has finished a group stage with zero points, Zagreb have the unwanted distinction of being the only side to appear twice on the list. They also finished without a single point in 2016/17 with the added embarrassment of not finding the net even once. That makes them one of only two teams to go through all six games without scoring alongside Maccabi Haifa in 2009/10.
If Rangers fail to take any points from their last two games then they would indeed find themselves as the 20th club to lose all six, with Zagreb the only club to have done it twice. But they would have to concede a further five goals without reply to eclipse Zagreb's horror outing of 11 years ago.
The 20 worst group stage teams
20. Otelul Galati - 2011/12 - 0 points, 3 scored, 11 conceded - (GD -8)
19. Maccabi Haifa - 2009/10 - 0 points, 0 scored, 8 conceded - (GD -8)
18. Marseille - 2013/14 - 0 points, 5 scored, 14 conceded - (GD -9)
17. AEK Athens - 2018/19 - 0 points, 2 scored, 13 conceded - (GD -11)
=16. Kosice - 1997/98 - 0 points, 2 goals, 13 conceded - (GD -11)
=16. Partizan - 2010/11 - 0 points, 2 scored, 13 conceded - (GD -11)
14. Rapid Vienna - 2005/06 - 0 points, 3 scored, 15 conceded - (GD -12)
=13. Villarreal - 2011/12 - 0 points, 2 scored, 14 conceded - (GD -12)
=13. Club Brugge - 2016/17 - 0 points, 2 scored, 14 conceded - (GD -12)
11. Benfica - 2017/18 - 0 points, 1 scored, 14 conceded - (GD -13)
10. Anderlecht - 2004/05 - 0 point, 4 goals scored, 17 conceded - (GD -13)
9. Debrecen - 2009/10 - 0 points, 5 scored, 19 conceded (GD -14)
8. Maccabi Tel Aviv - 2015/16 - 0 points, 1 scored, 16 conceded (GD -15)
7. Dynamo Kyiv - 2007/08 - 0 points, 4 scored, 19 conceded (GD -15)
6. Dinamo Zagreb - 2016/17 - 0 points, 0 scored, 15 conceded - (GD -15)
=5. Zilina - 2010/11 - 0 points, 3 scored, 19 conceded - (GD -16)
=5. Besiktas - 2021/22 - 0 points, 3 scored, 19 conceded - (GD -16)
3. Levski Sofia - 2006/07 - 0 points, 1 scored, 17 conceded - (GD -16)
2. Spartak Moscow - 2002/03 - 0 points, 1 scored, 18 conceded - (GD -17)
1. Dinamo Zagreb - 2011/12 - 0 points, 3 scored, 22 conceded - (GD - 19 )
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