Rangers' return to the Champions League was one to forget as they suffered a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Ajax.
Coming off the back of a heavy derby defeat to Celtic, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and skipper James Tavernier spoke in the build-up about putting in a good performance but it was a tough evening in Amsterdam with the visitors trailing 3-0 within 35 minutes.
The recent defensive issue at set plays came back to haunt the Light Blues once again as Edson Alvarez headed home from a corner to put the Dutch giants ahead. Steven Berghuis added a second after his strike took a deflection off James Sands to once again leave Jon McLaughlin helpless in the Rangers goal and again, he stood no chance as just minutes later it was three and game over as Mohammed Kudus superbly found the top corner with a rasping effort.
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Borna Barisic thought he had grabbed a consolation with 20 minutes left on the clock with a stunning goal of his own but the goal was overruled by VAR for an offside against Ryan Kent. Steven Bergwijn then rubbed salt into the wounds as Ryan Jack's mistake was punished as the pacey attacker skipped past McLaughlin to roll the ball into an empty net.
All eyes will now be on Aberdeen as Van Bronckhorst and Co look to get back to winning ways and put a big performance in at Pittodrie ahead of welcoming Napoli to Ibrox next week on Matchday 2.
Here are three things we learned from Rangers' return to Europe's top table.
Defensive set-up
Rangers once again came undone from a set-piece.
In recent times the Light Blues' Achilles heel has been defending set plays and once again they were caught out.
Poor marking from the visitors allowed Alvarez to nod home from close-range to give Ajax the lead inside the opening 20 minutes. A second came from an unfortunate deflection but it was much deserved goal for the home side who just continued to attack and attack throughout.
James Tavernier was beaten by Mohamed Kudus with a quick-fire third as he skipped past the Rangers captain after he got too tight before unleashing an unstoppable goal into the top corner of the net.
The fourth goal was once again avoidable as Jack's loose pass was pounced on by Bergwijn who skipped around the advancing McLaughlin to slot into an empty net.
Work needed on the training ground to eradicate the simple mistakes.
Glove battle
McLaughlin was once again given a show of faith by Van Bronckhorst as the Dutchman stuck by his new No1.
Allan McGregor has been an incredible servant over two spells at the club and a real fans' favourite but he's had to settle for second fiddle this campaign.
Pundits and fans questioned McLaughlin's place once again after a poor afternoon in the 4-0 hammering by Celtic.
But he started the Champions League opener in Amsterdam and despite conceding four goals once more, he was blameless as he made a couple of decent stops in a night to forget for the Glasgow side.
Old favourite
Calvin Bassey was back in action against his former club after a big money move to Ajax in the summer.
The full-back was a real attacking asset for Rangers in their Europa League run last season while he was also defensively sound.
He battled well against his Light Blues pals in this one and didn't look out of place in Europe's Premier competition.
Showed his strength and power in the physical battle and continues to get better with each passing game.
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