Rangers’ Malik Tillman picked out as Champions League one to watch
The Champions League is very nearly back in business and one of Rangers’ most impressive players has been picked out for praise.
The Athletic’s latest scouting report of Europe picked out one player from each of the 32 teams in the group stages and for the Light Blues, Malik Tillman stood out against the rest for special praise.
The 20-year-old, on loan from Bayern Munich at Ibrox, has been a revelation for Rangers and correspondent Jordan Campbell was waxing lyrical about the 20-year-old.
“New faces were key to Rangers graduating from the Europa League to the Champions League, and the most exciting player is Bayern Munich loanee Malik Tillman,” Campbell wrote.
“He was outstanding in the second leg against PSV Eindhoven to help Rangers win their play-off tie and he is showing the sort of form that will give him a chance of making the United States World Cup squad.”
Pressure
Despite being a Bayern Munich player, Tillman arrived at Rangers without a great deal of pressure on his shoulders but his sensational start to life in Glasgow has mounted it all on his shoulders.
This will be a huge test of the 20-year-old American and whether he can handle having so many eyes on his performances every midweek against some of the best teams in the world.
There will be no easy game for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side with Napoli, Ajax and Liverpool in their group so if they are to advance to the knockout stages, he will have to turn up for all six group stage games.
He isn’t carrying that pressure entirely on his shoulders, of course, with Antonio Colak having an equally impressive start to life at the football club and each and every player will be asked to play like they’ve never played before if they are to shock the continent once again.
In other Rangers news, Ronald De Boer has been waxing lyrical himself about van Bronckhorst’s achievements at Ibrox so far.