Rangers out-pressed by Napoli as Ally McCoist 'unacceptable' judgment rings true

His side went down by three goals to nil but on the basis of chances created, the visitors could argue the scoreline should’ve been closer. The 0.59xG total they managed does not include Alfredo Morelos’ open goal miss, given he didn’t make contact with Ridvan Yilmaz’s cross.

On the other hand, Giovanni Simeone only needed a half-sighting of goal twice to convert and the hosts totally controlled affairs until Rangers changed approach and improved their performance after the interval.

As detailed in the Rangers Review’s post-match analysis, the visitors couldn’t cope with the quick rotations they faced in the first period.

The below pass network, which charts the average location from which a player made their passes, shows Mario Rui wide on the left flank while his opposite full-back, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, tucked inside. Giacomo Raspadori played narrow from the left-wing while Matteo Politano provided width on the right.

Rangers set up in their broadly-termed 'customary' formation. A 4-3-3 with one midfielder playing as more of a No.10 and sitting close to the forward (Malik Tillman), one as a No.8 and making runs in the right channel (John Lundstram) and a No.6 anchoring the midfield (James Sands).

Without the ball, they played a high line and used Scott Wright as an extra defender when Rui pushed high, to ensure Tavernier wasn’t two-vs-one against the left-back and Raspadori’s narrow role.

Twice in the first half, the Italians were able to get in behind and on both occasions, Simeone finished ruthlessly.

The first goal saw him find the far corner from the right-hand side of the box. Turning a 0.16xG chance into a 0.55PSxG goal.

READ MORE: How Napoli exposed Rangers' defensive intensity to compound Champions League pain

Remember, xG measures the likelihood of a chance being converted, PSxG revaluates that likelihood once the trigger has been pulled.

His second goal was a slightly higher-value chance. Ghosting between Leon King and Ben Davies again, the forward turned a 0.3xG headed chance into a 0.7PSxG goal.

According to StatsBomb’s Goals Saved Above Average metric, Allan McGregor could’ve hoped to do better over the course of 90 minutes with the veteran returning a -0.87 rating.

Remember, GSAA is defined as: “How many goals did the keeper save/concede versus expectation (post-shot xG faced)? This is representative of how many goals the goalkeeper's saves prevented within a game/season.”

The third goal saw Oestigaard escape John Lundstram’s clutches and head beyond the planted McGregor. It was an impressive finish from a 0.04xG chance but based on the 0.27PSxG, perhaps the keeper could’ve done more.

Morelos’ first-half effort when sent through on goal was Rangers' best opportunity. That aside, clear chances were limited.

However, that number would’ve looked totally different if the Colombian had been able to connect with Rdivan’s ball across the face.

Ally McCoist fumed on BT Sport after it emerged Napoli had outrun Rangers despite holding well over 60 percent of the ball.

"They didn't look lively at all up front in the first half. There was a lack of movement," he said.

"We already have the statistics through that Napoli covered 4.1km more than Rangers.

While running stats can sometimes be misleading, it’s hard to suggest the visitors played with the required intensity and pressure in Naples to match their opponents. 

Napoli made 131 pressures and 19 pressure regains…

To Rangers’ 114 and 15…

Van Bronckhorst pointed out the positives post-match and his side did show more going forwards. If Morelos put his chance away the last 20 minutes could've looked different.

However, the costly lack of intensity led to a two-goal deficit that the visitors couldn't recover from.