Those who tend to look on the bright side of life will take comfort from the fact that a second leg victory at Ibrox in fortnight will be sufficient to propel Paul Le Guen’s side into the group stage of the competition and seek solace in some fine individual defensive performances, most notably from Allan McGregor and Julien Rodriguez.
Whether the devil or the angel prevails will become clear in two weeks’ time although Rangers will need to perform better if they are to extend their involvement in European competition beyond the end of September.
On this showing, Molde will again be no pushovers after an impressive home performance that belied their status as perennial relegation battlers and will arrive in Glasgow confident of causing the first major upset of the Le Guen era.
The Aker Stadium in this remote corner of Norway – perched on the banks of the Romsdalsfjord and dwarfed by tree-lined mountains – provided the picture postcard setting for Rangers’ first tentative steps into European football this season.
The scenery may have been breathtaking and the autumn sunshine very welcome but this was no holiday break for Le Guen or his players.
An extended run in this competition would go a long way to eliminating the disappointment of missing out on this season’s Champions League and, in that regard, Rangers were handed what seemed a largely favourable draw when they were paired with Molde.
The Norwegian outfit, managed by ex-Aberdeen striker Arild Stavrum, have spent the best part of the last two seasons at the foot of their domestic league table, barely escaping relegation last year and currently battling to do the same this time around.
However, given the almighty struggle it took for Rangers to get past Maritimo of Madeira – a similarly unfancied side from another sleepy, picturesque village – at this same stage two years ago, the pre-match mantra from Le Guen’s men that “there are no easy games in Europe” was perhaps borne out of recent experience rather than hollow rhetoric.
Molde, unsurprisingly, were nowhere near as poor a side as many had expected and hoped and looked the side more likely to score in the earlier exchanges.
The pairing of Magne Hoseth and Madiou Konate looked sprightly in attack, the former heading just over McGregor’s bar from Stian Ohr’s cross with only the raising of the linesman’s flag and some alert defending from Rodriguez curbing some inventive running from Konate.
The Norwegians’ best chance of a cagey first half, however, came within the opening five minutes. Daniel Berg Hestad’s rasping drive required a fingertip block from McGregor – on his European debut – and the loose ball squirted only yards away from the lurking Ohr to Rangers’ undoubted relief.
Le Guen had made three changes to the team that defeated Falkirk last weekend, most notably handing Barry Ferguson his first start of the season and relegating Jeremy Clement to the bench.
Ferguson’s natural desire to attack was encouraging when Rangers were moving forward but left Brahim Hemdani exposed whenever Molde stole possession.
Thomas Buffel and Lee Martin also returned to the starting line-up and the on-loan Manchester United player was Rangers’ most productive attacking outlet though often had a tendency to overdo the flicks and tricks when an earlier pass or cross into the box may have brought more success.
Since his arrival on Scottish shores Le Guen has shown a dogged determination to maintain his rigid 4-2-3-1 formation regardless of the personnel filling the jerseys and it was no different here, meaning Kris Boyd was once more charged with the chief responsibility of finding the net.
Still looking for his first ever European goal – albeit having made only three brief appearances prior to starting here – the striker enjoyed Rangers’ best opportunities of the opening period, although his mishit shot and more convincing header both drifted wide of the left hand post.
A Martin mazy run and shot also landed in similar territory before Libor Sionko saw a netbound effort cleared off the goal line by Matej Mavric just before the break as Rangers began to claw their way back into proceedings after a pedestrian start.
Bolder in the second half, Rangers continued to chip away at Molde’s resolve without greatly troubling goalkeeper Jan Kjell Larsen.
Boyd embarrassingly failed to make any sort of contact following a cross from Martin before the Englishman and Sionko both had shots comfortably saved.
The best chance again fell to the home side with McGregor standing up well to parry a fierce thrash on goal from the impressive Hoseth.
By 66 minutes Le Guen had seen enough and summoned Prso and Burke from the bench to replace Sionko and Buffel to try to earn a precious away goal.
Instead it was the home side who again threatened to slide in front. McGregor capped a fine match with another spectacular block from a ferocious shot from Ohr and then watched on gratefully as substitute Pape Pate Diouf’s header dropped just wide of goal.
Better will be expected from Rangers in a fortnight’s time.
RANGERS (4-2-3-1): 22 McGregor; 16 Bardsley, 27 Rodriguez, 19 Svensson, 26 Smith; 7 Hemdani, 6 Ferguson (Clement 75); 14 Sionko (Prso 66), 4 Buffel (Burke 67), 32 Martin; 15 Boyd
Subs not used: Robinson, Hutton, Sebo, Adam
Booked: Ferguson (59)
MOLDE FK (4-4-2): 22 Larsen; 24 Mavric, 3 Andreasson, 4 Kallio, 19 Rindaroy (Strande 72); 10 Ohr, 15 Rudi, 21 Grande, 6 Hestad; 26 Konate (Diouf 83), 9 Hoseth
Subs not used: Lillebakk, Gjerde, Moster, Habib
Booked: Ohr (25), Hoseth (41), Rudi (59)
Referee: Jacek Granat (Poland)
Attendance: 6,569
Key Man: Julien Rodriguez, A solid defensive performance