Three goals were plundered by the visitors inside 20 minutes to leave Rangers with a mountain to climb in the tie.
However, Russell Martin’s side will hope Danilo’s strike shortly after the restart provides the lifeline they require heading to Bruges in eight days’ time as they look to keep their hopes of League Phase qualification alive.
The boss wasted precious little time in handing 19-year-old Jayden Meghoma his Rangers debut after the full-back joined on loan from Brentford on Sunday evening.
For all the pre-match build-up, however, the Gers suffered a setback inside two minutes when a mix-up between Nasser Djiga and Jack Butland allowed Romeo Vermant to pounce on a loose ball and lift an audacious lob over a stranded Gers goalkeeper to break the deadlock.
The hosts were still reeling from the concession of such an early opener that the Belgian side struck while the iron was hot. An outswinging corner from the nearside travelled straight to Jorne Spileers, positioned in acres of space on the penalty spot, who diverted the delivery goalwards and beyond Butland via a wicked deflection off John Souttar.
The Belgian outfit were in dreamland 13 minutes later as they added a third of the evening to leave Ibrox stunned. A swift counter-attack brought numbers into the Gers final third and, after the hosts failed to properly clear their lines, Brandon Mechele was first to react on the edge of the penalty area and the Club Brugge defender rifled an unstoppable strike beyond an outstretched Butland.
Rangers required a moment of urgency from somewhere and it spoke to the ambition of Max Aarons that he drew the appreciation of the Rangers support when he drove forward and drew a foul on the edge of the penalty area. From the subsequent free-kick, Joe Rothwell curled only inches wide.
Opportunity beckoned for Djeidi Gassama minutes later as a slip in midfield allowed Nico Raskin to feed the wide man, but after shimmying intelligently inside to create space for the effort he could only curl wide of the far post.
The nature of the scoreline meant the onus was on Rangers to force the issue, providing ammunition for the away side to pick their moments on the counter-attack. Carlos Forbs prompted a smart save from Butland after unleashing a thunderous effort at goal.
Whatever the half-time message from Martin paid immediate dividends as Rangers reduced the arrears with a move of slick quality. Debutant Meghoma was the architect as he darted intelligently in-behind down the left-hand side, lifting his head in time to pick out a delicious delivery across the face of goal in search of Danilo who provided the finishing touch.
Suddenly, Rangers had momentum, and they almost engineered a second of the half when Gassama wriggled free on the byline and stabbed a dangerous cross into a crowd of penalty bodies which the home side couldn’t quite work an attempt at goal from.
Action was beginning to flow from end-to-end as Souttar was forced to be alert to thwart Aleksandar Stankovic’s pull-back, before Gassama flashed just wide from 20 yards out.
Prior to that the Gers boss turned to his bench for reinforcements as Thelo Aasgaard and Hamza Igamane entered the fray, before a smart save from Butland prompted the introductions of Mikey Moore and James Tavernier.
Moore instantly tested the Club Brugge rearguard with a driving run on the right-hand side and his subsequent effort, although ambitious, almost forced Simon Mignolet into action at his near post.
Drama then ensued with 11 minutes remaining when Gassama, so impressive in his ability to beat defenders one-versus-one, forced his way inside the Club Brugge penalty area and through a stramash to stab the ball into the net.
However, the home side’s celebrations were duly curbed when referee Francois Letexier was advised to take a trip to the pitchside monitor where he deemed goalkeeper Mignolet to be in control of the ball when Gassama forced the ball over the goalline.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Martin’s men, although he will hope his side channel their second half performance here when they make the trip to Belgium in eight days’ time.
RANGERS: Butland, Aarons, Souttar, Djiga, Meghoma (Tavernier, 69), Rothwell (Cameron, 85), Raskin, Diomande (Aasgaard, 60), Antman (Moore, 69), Gassama, Danilo (Igamane, 60)
Subs not used: Kelly, Barron, Dowell, Fernandez, Gentles, Curtis, Hutton
CLUB BRUGGE: Mignolet, Sabbe (Meijer, 72), Spileers, Mechele, Seys, Onyedika (Diakhon, 88), Carlos Forbs (Vetlesen, 72), Tzolis, Stankovic (Reis, 84), Vanaken, Vermant (Tresoldi, 45)
Subs not used: Jackers, Ordonez, Sandra, Nilsson, Siquet, Audoor, Campbell
REFEREE: Francois Letexier (FRA)