NAPLES - Rangers’ European campaign hangs by the thinnest of threads after a 3-0 defeat to Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Having lost their first four Champions League group matches on the bounce, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men came into this game bottom of Group A and facing an uphill struggle to extend their stay in Europe. They knew that, to finish third and secure a Europa League knockout play-off, they would need to match or better Ajax’s result against Liverpool at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

It was never going to be an easy task against a Napoli team on an 11-match winning run. No doubt drawing confidence from his side’s 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture at Ibrox, Luciano Spalletti benched several of his star players in Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Piotr Zielinski and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa.

It did little to affect Napoli’s performance. The hosts opened the scoring after 11 minutes when Giovanni Di Lorenzo split the lines with a first-time pass from deep out on the right, setting up Giovanni Simeone to ping a shot past Allan McGregor and into the far corner.

Napoli were 2-0 up five minutes later when Mario Rui made inroads on the left and picked out Simeone with a curling cross, which he headed in from five yards. It looked like the first half could turn into a rout, not least when Di Lorenzo teed up Tanguy Ndombele for a shot which thundered back off the crossbar a few minutes later.

Rangers managed to make it to half-time without sustaining further damage, however, even if they were given a couple of let-offs by Giacomo Raspadori. The visitors had their first attempt on the 40-minute mark when Malik Tillman danced into the area only for Kim Min-jae to throw his body in the way, before Alfredo Morelos was denied by a good save from Alex Meret just before the break.

Simeone came within a whisker of completing his hat-trick after the restart, lobbing McGregor only for the ball to bounce up off the turf and nestle on the roof of the net. Moments later, he tested the Rangers goalkeeper from a tight angle only for McGregor to get down low and save at his near post.

Rangers’ best chance to haul themselves back into the match fell to Morelos. Ben Davies whipped in a ball which looked almost certain to result in a goal, only for the Colombian to let it run between his legs.

Napoli got a third late on, Leo Ostigard rising highest at a corner and planting the ball past McGregor.