Barisic: We didn’t play like Rangers
Borna Barisic admits Rangers were lucky not to be find themselves in a deeper hole at De Kuip after failing to show up for 45 minutes against Feyenoord.
Jens Toornstra’s deflected opener was the least Dick Advocaat’s side deserved after dominating the first period in Rotterdam.
But it was a different story after the break as two superb Alfredo Morelos headers fired Gers back into the crucial Europa League contest.
Luis Sinisterra’s equaliser ensured the penultimate Group G clash ended in 2-2 draw but the Light Blues can clinch a place in the last 32 with a draw against Young Boys in two weeks’ time.
However, left-back Barisic admits they will need to put on a complete performance to ensure they see off their Swiss rivals after showing Feyenoord too much respect.
The Croatia international said: “The result was good but the performance in the first half was not too good from us.
“We didn’t play like Rangers, we weren’t aggressive enough, we didn’t get close enough to their players, we didn’t have enough players running forward.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
“We didn’t deserve to be drawing at half-time – I think 1-0 was actually a good score for us as they had a couple of good chances to score more.
“But in the second half we showed how we could really play, we showed our style.
“At half-time, the manager told us we need to start playing like Rangers, to play all the time and I think we accepted that and the second half changed for the better.
“I’m always confident. I think we play very good football, especially at home at Ibrox with our crowd of 50,000 people behind us.
“It’s not easy to play there but it’s not just about the crowd. The performance is the most important thing.
“We need to start well against Young Boys and take the crowd with us. But we have two weeks until that game and a lot of time to prepare.”
Morelos became the first Rangers player to score in four consecutive European games and Barisic – who teed up his second goal – is thrilled to be playing alongside the Colombian.
He said: “Alfredo is a top player. You can see he can score from every position. With his head, with his left foot, with his right.
“It’s really nice to play with a player like Alfredo. It’s very good to know that he will be here until the end of the season.”
FourFourTwo was launched in 1994 on the back of a World Cup that England hadn’t even qualified for. It was an act of madness… but it somehow worked out. Our mission is to offer our intelligent, international audience access to the game’s biggest names, insightful analysis... and a bit of a giggle. We unashamedly love this game and we hope that our coverage reflects that.
‘After Manchester City’s recent form, maybe they’re the underdogs against Manchester United!’ Former Red Devils defender on this weekend’s derby
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression