Calvin Bassey played a major role in making sure that Rangers made it through to the next round of the Europa League after his latest display at Ibrox.
Rangers are through to the next round of the Europa League as their 2-2 draw in Glasgow was enough to see them through following their 4-2 win in Germany last week.
Even though Borussia Dortmund were without star man Erling Haaland, they still showed themselves to be a capable side, especially by scoring twice in the opening half to really make the tie interesting. However, the efforts of the Rangers side – and one player in particular – played a key role in getting them through.
Here, we break down a key battle between Bassey and one of the Borussia Dortmund players that was crucial to seeing Rangers through:
Calvin Bassey
Will Giovanni van Bronckhorst succeed at Rangers?
Yes
No
The 22-year-old, having been in and out of the side at times this season, certainly showed why he has become one of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s most trusted defenders last night. He was given a very impressive 8/10 for his performance as The Herald stated that he ‘excelled’ at left-back and hailed his brilliant cross for Rangers’ second.
As per SofaScore, whilst his side did concede two goals, he cut a very solid figure at the back to make sure that they didn’t concede more and make the tie a little bit more nerve-wracking.
He managed to win 8/11 of his ground duels, won his lone aerial duel and was frantic in making sure the ball didn’t go into the net for a third time, as he made four tackles, two interceptions, two clearances and blocked a shot to keep the goals down to just two on the night and see them through.
Marco Reus
Even though Marco Reus, who is valued at £11.7 million (as per Transfermarkt), is getting on a bit now at age 32, he has still shown this season that he is an effective player for the German side, with 13 goals and 13 assists in all competitions this season.
However, at Ibrox, whilst they were able to grab two goals, he was rendered pretty much useless. As per SofaScore, he only managed to get away one shot in the whole match (and even then, managed to put it off-target). Meanwhile, he lost possession 11 times and lost the majority of his ground duels – three of seven – before being taken off in the final few minutes to be replaced by Axel Witsel.
Given how well he has performed so far this season, it’s clear to see how much the performance of players like Bassey were in helping to see Rangers through in such an important game for the Ibrox outfit.
TIF Verdict…
It certainly was an impressive display to keep someone like Reus that quiet on the night, and Bassey is going to need a lot more of those performances moving forward this season.
Rangers are right in the thick of a close title race with Celtic, and with the Gers currently in second place, they can’t afford many slip-ups between now and the end of the season. And performing well in the league might give them the platform to carry on their push towards success in Europe.
So let’s just hope there are more performances like this from players like Bassey moving forward to make that a reality.
In other news: Board miss out on £5m, make big statement: Van Bronckhorst drops key Rangers update – opinion