Despite poor domestic form being piled on top of their continental difficulties, Rangers acquitted themselves reasonably well in the opening exchanges of the Röhl era – though not to an extent that troubled Mathias Dyngeland, with a header off-target from Nicolas Raskin and a downward header from Youssef Chermiti providing the Brann keeper with little more than catching practice.
Meanwhile, Brann’s own chances had a bit more menace to them and grew in number as the first half wore on, with the first notable one seeing Ulrik Mathisen nearly head in via a Noah Holm flick-on to the far post.
A particularly stark warning then came just before the half-hour mark, when Bård Finne was denied at the near post, as he tried to fire in at the end of Holm's ball over the top.
Jack Butland’s parry went airborne and fell to Holm, but his acrobatic overhead kick was more 'Wrongaldo' than Ronaldo, going harmlessly over.
However, just a few minutes after Emil Kornvig sent a searing volley wide from outside the box, the Dane broke the deadlock as half time loomed.
Showing excellent pace on the breakaway, Bard Finne attempted a shot from the left flank at a narrow angle, which deflected off John Souttar and wrongfooted Butland, allowing Kornvig to slide in at the far post.
With Brann having won five of their previous seven European home games, Rangers’ chances of finally getting off the mark in this UEL campaign looked distinctly slim at half time.
Yet, Röhl resisted any temptation to turn to his bench, and it proved to be a ruinous decision 10 minutes after the restart, when Brann won a free kick on the left flank, roughly level with the 18-yard line.
Once again, Finne was an agent of torment, curling an inch-perfect free kick into the box, at the end of which was Jacob Sørensen, who beat the attention of Raskin to open his UEL account with a firm header past a helpless Butland.
It was only now that Röhl chose to act, with three substitutions in the following seven minutes, but the visitors continued to look a shadow of the side that went the distance with Frankfurt in the 2022 UEL final.
If there was to be a third goal, there was only one team in the running for it, and Brann delivered the final blow with nine minutes of the 90 to play, when Vetle Dragsnes lofted a pinpoint cross into the box, allowing Holm to take it in his stride and fire past Butland, putting Brann on course for their biggest winning margin in a major European home match since September 1996.
For Rangers, this was just another dismal chapter in a season that continues to lurch from one crisis to another.
They’ve now lost six successive European matches, conceding 17 times in the process, but for every battered loser, there is a triumphant winner – Brann were exceptionally deserving ones tonight, and they remain unbeaten against Scottish sides (W2, D1) after a maiden H2H to remember for generations.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bård Finne (SK Brann)