Ex-Rangers ace Leon Balogun back at Ibrox for Champions League turnaround
Rangers completed yet another memorable European turnaround as they beat Royal Saint Union Gilloise 2-0 in the Champions League.
Goals from captain James Tavernier, Antonio Colak and Malik Tillman were enough to see Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side overturn the 2-0 deficit of the first leg to set up a tie against PSV Eindhoven for a place in the group stages.
Even if the Eredivisie side beat the Gers, they are guaranteed a place back in the Europa League group stages where they started for their run to the competition’s final last season.
Among that squad was Nigerian international Leon Balogun but he has since been released by the Light Blues and is yet to find himself a new club for the 2022-23 season.
As a result, he decided to return to Ibrox on Tuesday evening to watch his former teammates on a memorable evening as he posted the scenes at full-time on his Instagram story.
New fan
Professional footballers often begin to support teams they play for even if they haven’t had any interest prior to playing for them and Balogun appears to be one of those.
He was no longer going to be a regular at Rangers and you can see why van Bronckhorst opted to let him leave so he could carry on playing regularly but you never heard a bad word said about him either.
It is a shame that he hasn’t managed to find a new club yet because he still has a lot to offer the right club but while he hasn’t got any games to play, it is nice to see that he is keen to watch his former club on a big occasion.
If it hadn’t been for the signings of John Souttar and Ben Davies, he may have been involved against the Belgian runners-up and he wouldn’t have been a worry for the Dutchman.
If he remains a free agent after the transfer window closes, it might not be the worst idea to sign him on a short-term basis to add a bit of cover to the defence with games set to come thick and fast.
In other Rangers news, van Bronckhorst could look to change his system soon to get the most out of two key men at Auchenhowie.