Rangers boss Danny Rohl admits he's eager to savour the atmosphere of a big European night ... and get Ibrox rocking for the visit of Roma

Sampling the power of Ibrox on major European nights can prove to be an unforgettable experience.

Three years after being vanquished in the semi-final of the Europa League, surviving members of RB Leipzig’s squad can still recall the racket created by a capacity crowd.

A former coach at the German club, Danny Rohl has been told what the stadium he now calls home can feel like on such occasions. 

He is anxious to savour the atmosphere for himself as Rangers boss against AS Roma on Thursday evening.

‘I watched the videos after the Leipzig game at home,’ he said of a famous 3-1 win in 2022. ‘It was a crazy atmosphere. I’ve spoken to a couple of players in the last few days from Leipzig. They sent me messages saying the atmosphere here that night was really special.

‘So, of course, that’s also a part of why I’m enjoying being here. It’s to win games in the league, but also to have good European nights.

‘The last three games weren’t successful but, on Thursday, we have the next chance against a very good opponent.

‘We’ll try everything to take something from it. We’ll put everything into it. We’re trying to get wins and, at home, everything is possible.’

That certainly felt the case the year Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side went the distance.

Notable scalps were also taken either side of the Dutchman’s tenure. These have set a lofty standard.

Russell Martin’s domestic failings were glaring enough. A humiliation at the hands of Club Brugge and losses to Genk and Sturm Graz rendered his position untenable.

With Rohl experiencing a bruising opening night in Bergen as he familiarised himself with the task at hand, Rangers take on the might of Roma in the unfamiliar position of having it all to do in a European campaign.

‘Of course, in this competition right now we have zero points,’ added the head coach. ‘So, we need to start picking some up as soon as possible.’

While whoever succeded Martin might reasonably have been expected to make an instant improvement, Rohl doesn’t have to scrape the barrel to find morsels of encouragement.

Yes, his side were poor with a full contingent against Celtic in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final, but after Thelo’s Aasgaard’s dismissal they performed admirably until their legs gave way.

As much as the outcome at Hampden was hard to take, the spirit Rohl’s side showed was some consolation.

‘In the second half we tried to be on the front foot,’ he said. ‘You have two choices - you can try to be very compact in a deep block, and wait and hope that something happens, or you can be active.

‘I decided to try to be active and it was great to see that our second-half performance was really strong.

‘I felt the energy in the stadium in the second half, and even though it was a defeat, it looked a lot more positive.

‘You saw a team that, for 90 minutes, tried to come back. The equaliser was deserved because we invested in a lot of things.

‘My feeling at the moment is that the group has more resilience now.

‘Overall, we lost the game, so it makes no sense now to be too positive. There are things we need to improve.’

These scarcely need explaining. Even with 11 men, Rohl’s side made elementary defensive errors. Across 120 minutes, they fashioned a raft of opportunities yet required a penalty kick to get on the board.

‘In general, it always helps when you are clean in both boxes,’ he reflected.

‘We saw this on Sunday, especially when we had one man less and we missed some good opportunities.

‘Both teams had good opportunities but, of course, if you score then it makes it a different story.

‘But it makes no sense to speak about “if”. It’s about being focused, clinical and not hoping for more and more chances.’

This was never going to be a quick fix. Martin’s disastrous reign ensured the squad Rohl inherited were short on quality and bereft of confidence. He needs time and support if he’s to get this right.

To that end, he took encouragement from the sight of chairman Andrew Cavenagh taking in training on Wednesday.

The American seems to care. The current situation could not be further removed from his last posting at Sheffield Wednesday, where owner Dejphon Chansiri was an absentee landlord.

‘I must say, so far, we have a great connection and relationship,’ said Rohl. ‘We always talk after games and this is good. I missed this type of relationship for the last two years.

‘All in all, the people around me are trying to support me and help me in different parts of this job. It allows me to focus on the aspects that are my responsibility.

‘In my last job, it was a different environment. From recruitment, to match prep, to looking for pre-season camps, these were things I had to look at by myself.

‘Now I have more people around me and this is important.’

While a loss to Roma wouldn’t quite spell the end of Rangers’ interest in the competition, zero points would leave them requiring to be perfect in their four remaining games to stand any chance of scraping through.

The Italians also have work to do if they are to equal or surpass the feat of reaching the last 16 last year.

Now under the stewardship of Gian Piero Gasperini, the wily veteran who won the Europa League with Atalanta in 2014, Roma won their opening match away to Nice but have since suffered successive home losses to Lille and Viktoria Plzen.

They arrive in Glasgow on the back of a 1-0 loss away to AC Milan, which left them fourth in Serie A.

While star man Paulo Dybala injured himself taking a penalty in that game, his fellow Argentinian Matias Soule is the team’s top marksman this term.

‘If you look at their results, they are very close,’ Rohl offered.

‘This is not a team who have conceded a lot of goals and they don’t score so many goals.

‘If you go (into the game) with confidence and an idea, you should have nothing to fear.

‘You shouldn’t be scared of the name, because it’s just 11 v 11. But we have to do a lot of things right on the pitch.’