Borna Barisic and Giovanni van Bronckhorst admit Rangers were punished by a ruthless Liverpool side during their stunning 7-1 home defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s side in the Champions League group-stages, speaking to BT Sport.
The last time Rangers conceded seven goals in a competitive fixture, Sir Anthony Eden was the Prime Minister, Pele hadn’t even celebrated his 17th birthday, and Elvis Pressley was dominating the charts.
And on Wednesday night at Ibrox, it was Rangers who were left feeling ‘All Shook Up’; Liverpool responding to Scott Arfield’s early opener with seven unanswered goals in just over 60 minutes of football, including six in a remarkably one-sided second-half with substitute Mo Salah stepping off the bench to score the quickest hat-trick in Champions League history.
Mo Salah shines as Liverpool humiliate Rangers at Ibrox
“It’s hard to find the right words after that,” says left-back Barisic, who was torn apart by a ruthless Reds frontline. “We can talk about how Liverpool has £800 million in players. That we are new in the Champions League and still learning. But this is just unacceptable
“(The fans) applauded us after the game. But we did not deserve their applause.
“We talked in the last three games about how hard it is in the Champions League, that teams have spent 400 or 500 million on players. But when you lose 7-1, it’s hard to find an excuse.”
Roberto Firmino continued his recent resurgence with two goals and a sublime assist for Darwin Nunez, while Harvey Elliott also notched his first in Europe’s premiere club competition following a lengthy VAR review.
‘Very disappointing’
“It was very disappointing,” adds a despondent Giovanni van Bronckhorst; highlighting Liverpool’s ability to bring Salah, Thiago Alcantara and Andy Robertson off the bench in Glasgow.
“The second goal came from their strength, which we know. We lose the ball in the middle of the pitch and they’re so fast at transition.
“We tried to push after 3-1 but you could see we were struggling. They upped the tempo and we weren’t accurate with our passing. That’s why we conceded so many goals.”
With no points and 16 goals conceded after just four matches, there is a very real chance that Rangers – Europa League finalists just a few months ago – will end the group-stage as statistically the worst-ever team ever to feature on the Champions League stage.
Their current goal-difference is minus-15. Concede five more without reply and they will replace the Dinamo Zagreb side of 2011/12 in the record books.
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