The Light Blues were excellent throughout the first-half but a piece of dismal refereeing from Jonas Eriksson robbed Walter Smith’s men of an excellent chance to get their noses in front before the break.
With 37 minutes played and the game sitting goalless Steven Naismith latched on to a through pass from Pedro Mendes and was clearly brought down by defender Abdoulay Konko.
Everyone in the ground waited for the Swede to point to the spot but, remarkably, he waved away play to the astonishment of the Gers’ management team.
Not only should it have been a spot kick but Konko should have been sent for an early bath.
As it was the Frenchman went on to open the scoring on 49 minutes and from there the Light Blues were dismantled as they pushed forward in a desperate bid to get back in the game.
Stevie Naismith was given the lone striking role on a wet evening in Glasgow while Steve Davis and Sasa Papac both returned to the side after missing out last weekend against Aberdeen.
Manager Walter Smith went with experience and power in the midfield area with Lee McCulloch anchoring a five-man line and protecting the back four.
Pedro Mendes was also back after being suspended and the Portuguese ace worked tirelessly for the cause on this difficult evening.
The Ibrox faithful were vociferous in the minutes leading up to kick-off as they normally are on every Champions League night.
The stadium was rocking when the game started but the opening stages were rather subdued with both teams trying to get on the ball and enjoy a bit of possession on the slippery surface.
Naismith saw a header land on the roof of Andres Palop’s goal before Mendes struggled to control a 25 yard shot which was teed up by Thomson on ten minutes.
Sevilla, as expected, looked slick going forward and the Light Blues had to endure a scare on 14 minutes when Jesus Navas was given space on the right from Papac and McGregor had to be at his best to palm away a first time effort from Kanoute.
Rangers, however, looked up for this tough European battle and Davis showed his class on 21 minutes when he chipped a through pass to Whittaker but his cross from a good position was poor.
He made up for this moments later when he crossed again, this time from deep, and when Naismith nodded it back McCulloch blasted a volley inches over the bar.
Jig again pushed forward before the half hour mark but his low effort across goal trundled out of play.
Nevertheless, the boys in blue were the better side with 30 minutes on the clock and the home support could taste blood.
With Davis adding a different dimension to the team and Naismith again working hard, and winning his fair share of headers, Manuel Jimenez looked concerned in the visitor’s technical area.
But his obvious frustration quickly turned to relief on 37 minutes when Rangers should have been awarded a stone wall penalty.
Mendes played a clever through pass to Naismith who took one touch before being clearly brought down on the penalty spot by Abdoulay Konko.
Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowall could not believe that referee Jonas Eriksson did not give it and neither could every Rangers fan in the stadium.
To make matters worse the French defender should also have been given a red card with Naisy only having to beat the keeper to put his side ahead.
With a chorus of boos ringing around the ground Madjid Bougherra had one of his mad moments when he tried a piece of skill in the wrong area of the pitch.
The Algerian was dispossessed by Kanoute and when his shot produced a diving stop by McGregor Navas blasted the rebound in to the Copland Road Stand.
The half-time whistle came as a relief to the Spaniards who were confident in the first 15 minutes but faded as Rangers dominated.
But the only talking point in the stands at half-time was the penalty incident with supporters wondering how a UEFA qualified official could have got this decision so wrong and just how costly it would be.
The answer was very.
If the ref was bad at the end of the first-half he was to get even worse at the start of the second.
On 47 minutes he awarded a goal kick when it was clear a Sevilla player headed out a Rothen free-kick.
And two minutes later he appeared to get it wrong again when he blew his whistle for a free-kick midway in Rangers’ half.
Weir was adjudged to have brought down Fabiano but looked to have won the ball.
From the free-kick the ball was played out wide to Navas who was unmarked and his delivery was headed home by Konko, the man who should not even have been on the pitch.
Rangers, however, regrouped and immediately looked to get back in to the game.
A dangerous cross come shot from Whittaker was inches away from finding McCulloch who had made a late burst in to the box.
Thomson then swerved a terrific shot from 25 yards towards goal which Palop tipped over.
With Rangers pushing forward spaces were always going to appear and when you are up against a team like Sevilla you are going to be punished.
This, unfortunately, was the case on 64 minutes when Adriano doubled his side’s advantage with a clinical finish.
Fabiano took Weir out of the game with a brilliant one-two with Kanoute and his cut back found the Brazilian midfielder who curled his right-foot shot past the helpless McGregor.
Things were to get worse on 71 minutes when Fabiano bagged a third.
Kanoute was given time on the right wing to supply a dangerous cross and the brilliant Brazilian outjumped Steven Whittaker to head home from six yards.
In what proved to be a nightmare ten minutes Rangers were cut open far too easily for Sevilla’s fourth.
Fabiano skipped past Weir and without even a glance up he squared the ball perfectly to his strike partner Kanoute who passed it in to the net.
Rangers were now dead and buried but they kept pushing forward and Palop was to make a great stop from Boyd after the striker had got behind Sevilla’s backline.
In the last 15 minutes the Spanish side kept possession confidently knowing that three points were already in the bag.
But Novo had the Rangers fans out of their seats in the 88th minute when he fired a tremendous shot home.
It was no more than the Light Blues deserved but as the final whistle was blown you could not help but think what could have been.
While it was true that Sevilla’s finishing was outstanding in the second-half poor refereeing helped them on their way and the look on the Rangers’ players faces as they walked up the tunnel said it all.