Brian Laudrup: Rangers need to stop Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski
Rangers will face Napoli in their second Champions League game on Wednesday (14 September), and Brian Laudrup suggests the Gers must “need to stop” midfielder Piotr Zielinski.
The Gers suffered a 4-0 defeat against Ajax in their first game, while Napoli won 4-1 against Liverpool. It won’t be easy for the Gers, but Laudrup suggests that one good performance can change everything.
Napoli will miss Victor Osimhen for this game, but the Italian club have loads of qualities. The likes of Zielinski and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia can hurt Rangers.
“Victor Osimhen is an obvious loss up front through injury, but they still have the hugely gifted young Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in attack,” wrote Laudrup in his column for the Scottish Daily Mail (14 September, page 78).
“To me, though, the one Rangers really need to stop is Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski. He sets the tempo for Napoli and always looks forward for a pass, finding the likes of Kvaratskhelia in dangerous areas. If Zielinski is allowed to run things, then it will be game over. Just like Parkhead and in the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
“At home, though, Rangers must show they can still be a different prospect. The Ibrox factor truly mattered last season. And it can again. But passion in the stands needs to be replicated on the pitch.”
Spot on
The performance against Ajax was a wake-up call from Rangers.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst is under a lot of pressure at the moment, and he needs strong results to get the belief back into the side.
Nobody expects Rangers to reach the knock-out stages or reach the finals. The fans are well aware that they are making gradual progress to reach this far.
At the same time, the fans want to see the players fighting for the shirt, and giving their best on the pitch. At least, they can put up a strong performance, winning or loosing doesn’t matter.
Against Celtic and Ajax, that spark was missing. It felt like none of the players were keen to take responsibility.
There were too many individual errors, and Rangers failed to manage the basics. If they do the same against Napoli, they can expect another humiliating result.
The Bears have been superb at home in European games, and they must give their best on the pitch against Napoli.
In other Rangers news, the BBC never seem to learn their lessons as they persist with their embarrassing anti-Rangers agenda.