They looked disjointed at the back and lacklustre up front and boy did little Viktoria Zizkov make them suffer.
They scored in seven minutes from a freekick situation and again in 60 minutes to reduce Rangers’ chances of reaching the second round to slim at best.
Of course, the Light Blues can undoubtedly sort themselves for the second leg but they now need three goals to get past a side who were undoubtedly unknown to the vast majority of Ranges fans before the draw was made.
They certainly missed the influence of Spanish star Mikel Arteta who was ruled out of the match with a calf injury.
Arteta picked up the knock in last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Livingston and despite every effort could not shake it off. He failed a fitness test 45 minutes before kick-off and must now also be considered doubtful for this Saturday’s home game with Partick Thistle.
It meant that Alex McLeish had to shuffle his selection with Ronald de Boer moving into the midfield area and Peter Lovenkrands returning to the front line.
However, that was the least of the manager’s worries as sloppy Rangers lost a goal after only seven minutes and had missed a penalty by half-time. Not for the first time this season the goal was lost from a set piece.
Mo Ross used his shoulder to muscle Kennedy Chihuri off the ball on the right side of the box and the picky Spanish referee Santiago Rodriguez felt it was illegal and awarded the freekick.
Ludek Straceny swung the ball over and captain Ales Pikl bulleted a header into Stefan Klos’s net when there was little the German keeper could do about it.
McLeish could not believe his eyes but Rangers had looked tardy from the outset. Their passing was not on, the movement was poor and the Czechs had more urgency about them.
Fernando Ricksen did have a shot deflected wide in 13 minutes and from the resultant corner – taken by Ricksen – Craig Moore headed narrowly wide.
Moore had a similar effort in 23 minutes but there was not much further evidence of any potency in Rangers’ play. They seemed disorganised which must have baffled the manager.
Alarmingly they nearly lost a second goal in 20 minutes when Ross was woefully short with an intended passback and Straceny was onto the loose ball but Klos just did enough to reach it first and thump clear.
A minute later Ricksen was booked for a clear foul on Jan Buryan and it was beginning to look like a really black night.
However, five minutes before half-time Rangers got a massive boost when they won a penalty after Bob Malcolm was hauled down by Marcos Klimpl when trying to connect with Ferguson’s freekick. Horrifyingly, they did not make it count.
Ferguson had slotted four out of four from the spot this season but he hit his penalty weakly to the riight and Viktoria keeper Pavel Kucera made the save. It was the first spotkick miss of his senior career.
McLeish was undoubtedly an angry and concerned man at half-time and he changed things around a little by moving de Boer further forward.
There was a moment of encouragement when Ricksen forced Kucera to make an excellent save from his curling freekick in 48 minutes but there was more misery just around the corner.
Craig Moore damaged his hip when trying to reach Ricksen’s corner but before he could limp off, Rangers incredibly lost a second goal in 60 minutes
The defence simply failed to deal with Kucera’s long kick out and Ludek Straceny raced onto it to slam a right foot shot into the left corner.
Three minutes later it was all over for Moore as he hobbled off to be replaced by Bert Konterman. And there was more woe for the Light Blues in 64 minutes when Ricksen passed up a tremendous chance to haul his side back into the tie.
Arveladze worked the ball through to him on the left side of the box and he should have drilled a left foot shot into the net but stubbed his effort into the ground allowing Michal Scasny to clear off the line.
Rangers desperately needed a goal and Lovenkrands came close when he hit the face of the bar in 71 minutes from a tight angle but it was a real struggle for the Ibrox men.
Michael Mols was introduced for the first time this season when he came on for de Boer in 74 minutes and he offered a bit more life up front.
But it was Zizkov who nearly completely embarrassed Rangers with a third goal. Substitute Peter Kruty hammered a freekick from a tight angle which Klos pushed onto the bar.
In a desperate finish Ferguson forced a fabulous save from Kucera and Arveladze had the the ball in the net with a header but it was ruled out for pushing.
As bad nights go this has to go down as one of the worst.
VIKTORIA ZIZKOV: Kuvera; Buryan, Mlejnsjy, Klimpl, Janousek (Kruty 84); Smarda, Sabou, Scasny, Pikl; Straceny (Licka 90), Chihuri (Sebesta 30)
Subs not used – Vacek, Mikulik, Dirnbach, Chvatal
Bookings: Smarda (41)
RANGERS: Klos; Muscat, Malcolm, Moore (Konterman 63), Ross; Ricksen, de Boer (Mols 74), Ferguson; Caniggia (Latapy 86), Arveladze, Lovenkrands.
Subs not used: McGregor,Dodds, Gibson, Dowie.
Bookings: Ricksen (21) Moore (43) Ferguson (85), Malcolm (88)
Ref: Santiago Rodriguez (Spain)
Att: 3,427
Man of the match: Stefan Klos