Can Lassana Coulibaly continue his impressive start to life at Rangers?
Lassana Coulibaly has been one of the outstanding Rangers players at the beginning of the season and it looks like he’s returned from an injury just in time for the first group stage match of the Europa League.
The 22-year-old midfielder has made a blistering start to life at Ibrox with some powerful displays in the centre of the park, before a thigh injury saw him sidelined for the best part of a month.
But the Mali international returned with a goal at the weekend in a 4-0 win over Dundee and is contention to feature on Thursday evening away at Spanish club Villarreal.
Coulibaly has majorly impressed since joining on loan from French outfit Angers, but will have his toughest test so far is he features in midweek.
The combative central midfielder has been bulldozing his way through opponents, but was absent for the league defeat to Celtic and still needs to prove himself against top opposiotn.
It will be interesting to see if he can have the same impact on games when he features against a team with the quality of Villarreal, who have a number of elite players in their side.
Coulibaly will need to try win the midfield battle for Steven Gerrard’s side, but is likely to come up against technically gifted players in the shape of Santi Cazorla and Manu Trigueros.
Ex-Arsenal playmaker Cazorla is back playing football in Spain and not many midfielders will be able to get close to him when he is in form, with his range of passing and positioning exquisite.
Coulibaly’s challenge is to make the difference on the big stage and he will prove to be the real deal if he manages to get the better of the Villarreal midfield.
His work-rate in the middle is set to be crucial and he needs to try disrupt his opponents with his physicality, while he’s also proving he can provide a threat in attack.
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