From the highs of Eindhoven to the apathy of Naples. Weeks on from Champions League qualification, months on from Europa League miracles, Rangers’ European campaign is dead and buried barring a heavy win against Ajax.

Their record reads five games, five defeats, one goal for and 19 against. The dream of returning to the European elite has very quickly transpired into a nightmare. A joyless, predictable matchday routine in the stands and on the pitch. This team has been without a clear identity while results have exposed their lack of ability to step up. 

An improved second-half performance last night against Napoli should’ve seen the game go 2-1 when Alfredo Morelos missed an open goal. But had Tanguy Ndombele’s shot been an inch lower before the break, the visitors would’ve gone in 3-0 down and much like their trip to Amsterdam, the rest of the game would’ve been an outplaying of damage limitation to avoid a torrent of concessions. The hosts, even in resting a number of key individuals, looked to have levels in reserve.

Rangers may well have created more than previous away trips but given the overall complexion, it’s difficult to point to positives.

It’s more pertinent to question how this side have gone from routinely overachieving in Europe and putting on such a disciplined, coordinated performance to earn qualification, to lacking such attributes. It is as simple as the judgement made by Giovanni van Bronckhorst after matchday one against Ajax?

"To compete in the Champions League, you need hundreds of millions. Otherwise, you can't compete,” he said. "For us to compete with them it's too much to ask. We want to compete but we want to compete with the squad we have, and the squad we are able and capable of making.”

It’s difficult to preach this message when last season’s campaign felt limitless and was so nearly immortal. If van Bronckhorst had worked on financial expectations then the fabled Road to Seville wouldn’t have made it beyond Dortmund. Yes, the Champions League is a huge step up but so too was bypassing Europa League rounds that had previously felt unreachable.

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To navigate beyond the Germans and subsequent rounds earlier this year, van Bronckhorst’s tactical tinkering was hugely effective and his erudite decision-making rightly hailed.

“We trained three different plans for today,” he told BT Sport after a half-time shape switch in the home leg stemmed Dortmund’s tide and edged momentum back in his side’s favour.

“This was plan c [moving to a compact 5-4-1, soaking up pressure and hitting space in transition] and we needed it.”

Similarly, the historic semi-final win over RB Leipzig featured a clever ploy propagated by the Dutchman who used Glen Kamara’s back-to-goal ability to play over the press, while an intensely organised showing away from home kept the tie alive. Meanwhile, the Ibrox side's aggressive, man-marking approach overwhelmed Braga and Red Star Belgrade in the other two matches with more than a little help from Calvin Bassey.

If last season’s European campaign showed the advantages of flexibility then this season’s has exposed the other side of the coin. For the majority of these five group stage games Rangers have lacked recognisable features that remain consistent despite differing opposition. There has been so much tweaking that team prediction has become a thankless task.

Initially, van Bronckhorst's flexibility and unpredictability raised the ceiling established by Steven Gerrard’s dependable and clearly-defined foundations. Last season it was a European superpower to outwit opponents and change the course of matches. However, in this group stage it has hindered more than it has helped.

The win in Eindhoven to earn a place was all about composure in possession. Rangers had placed a clear emphasis on improving their build-up play in pre-season, to foster an on-ball identity of which the building blocks were visible. Given the number of personnel and system changes since, has the muscle memory worn off?

In Italy, van Bronckhorst’s side didn’t blatantly mark man-for-man but were pulled apart by Napoli's movement. Arms were constantly aloft in frustration. They were neither aggressive nor compact and the first two goals defined this juxtaposition. Crosses deep by the touchline were not pressurised and Giovanni Simeone twiced exposed the space that a relatively high line vacated.

The finishes were superb, the level, as stated by the manager post-match was “immense”. And yes the recovery was better than in recent matches. 

But rightly, the hope for this campaign was more than seeking positives after a fifth successive defeat, further marred by stodgy domestic form.

Rangers’ Champions League return has come and gone, chopped and changed, without leaving any mark behind or a clear sense of identity. Last season’s superpower has felt much less powerful.