Giovanni van Bronckhorst highlighted the ‘excellent’ performances of Borna Barisic, James Tavernier, Calvin Bassey and Connor Goldson following Rangers’ 2-0 Europa League victory over Sparta Prague, speaking to the Gers website.
Five days ago, Rangers produced one of their worst defensive performances in recent memory, going down 3-1 to a Martin Boyle hat-trick in the Scottish League Cup semi-final.
But with Van Bronckhorst standing on the sidelines for the first time as Gers boss, the difference felt like night and day, chalk and cheese, a Hibernian feast preceding a Sparta Prague famine.
Borna Barisic, a man usually renowned for his deadly delivery from the left-hand side rather than his diligent defensive work, was as solid and reliable as we’ve seen him for some time, making one outstanding headed clearance late in the first half.
Tavernier and Goldson, meanwhile, looked somewhere close to their belligerent best while Calvin Bassey, who struggled badly at during the 1-0 defeat in the Czech capital two months ago, showed at Ibrox that he can be relied upon to thrive in a more central role.
And that’s without mentioning the masterful Steven Davis and the ferocious Glen Kamara, protecting Van Bronckhorst’s backline with a shield of Valeryian steel and thriving in a new-look 4-2-3-1 formation.
Kamara, according to WhoScored, produced five successful tackles on the night.
How far can Rangers go in the Europa League?
“I’m very proud of my team,” Van Bronckhorst beamed after a well-deserved win which sealed Rangers’ place in the Europa League knock-out stages for a third-straight season.
The goals from (Alfredo) Morelos, the performance of the midfield and the back four players were excellent. And (Allan) McGregor made some fantastic saves.
“Overall, it was a very good team performance.
“It was very positive of course. I think we had a good performance for the 90 minutes. I think that the first half was very good, we created a lot of chances.
“I’m very proud of the team and how they reacted after Sunday, although we only had two training sessions, I think that they did the game plan very well.
“It was incredible. For me, it is very special to be back at the club. I had wonderful European nights and memories of my time here but going out as my first time as the manager is something special for me.”
After producing arguably his worst performance as a Rangers player at Hampden, Morelos certainly picked a good time to silence his doubters, slotting home from Ianis Hagi’s pull-back before taking full advantage of a dreadful Sparta mix-up.
It was El Bufalo wreaking havoc in a Europa League china shop, just like the good old days; The Plague of Prague.
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