Danny Rohl endured a nightmare start to his Rangers tenure after his side were beaten 3-0 away to Brann in the Europa League on Thursday. 

Having only replaced Russell Martin earlier this week, the former Sheffield Wednesday boss was unable to lead his new team to their first European win of 2025-26. 

Bard Finne assisted Emil Kornvig and Jacob Sorensen either side of half-time before Noah Holm completed the scoring to earn Brann all three points and see them temporarily move into the top eight of the 36-team league standings. 

Rangers had the first clear chance to take the lead, but Nicolas Raskin failed to convert two attempts in quick succession, while Ulrik Mathisen could not trouble Jack Butland with a header from close range at the other end. 

Youssef Chermiti then missed a golden opportunity for the visitors when he headed the ball straight at Mathias Dyngeland, and Brann took advantage of that reprieve shortly after when Finne's deflected cross was tapped home at the far post by Kornvig in the 40th minute. 

And the Norwegian side needed just 10 second-half minutes to double their advantage when Sorensen ran onto Finne's pinpoint cross from a free-kick and headed past Butland after poor marking from Rohl's side.

Rangers had their chances to get back into the game, most notably through substitute Mikey Moore who fired over the bar from Jayden Meghoma's cross, and Brann made them pay when Holm smashed in a third with 11 minutes to go.

Data Debrief: Rangers' European nightmare continues

Brann looked threatening every time they got on the ball and cut through the Rangers' backline on multiple occasions. The hosts produced 2.57 expected goals (xG) from 13 shots to the Gers' 1.25 from nine attempts.

Rangers have now lost six consecutive matches in European competitions, conceding 17 goals across those games, equalling their longest losing run in Europe (also six defeats in the Champions League between September and November 2022). 

Rohl's men also suffered their heaviest ever away defeat in the Europa League, and their joint-heaviest overall in the competition (alongside a 1-4 home loss vs Lyon in October 2024). 

The Scottish Premiership giants tasted their first ever defeat to Norwegian opposition in major European competition, having avoided defeat in both of their two previous meetings (W1 D1).