Rangers end must be nigh for Borna Barisic after what Ridvan Yilmaz did v Napoli
Rangers have given themselves a mountain to climb to get into the Europa League after they were beaten 3-0 by Napoli on Wednesday (26 October).
Amid a number of lacklustre performances on the night at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, one player stood tall and emerged from the game with plenty of credit.
Ridvan Yilmaz has had to be extremely patient since he arrived at Ibrox in the summer from Besiktas as Borna Barisic started the season well to keep the left-back spot his own.
But the Croatian endured a tough run of games for Rangers and Giovanni van Bronckhorst finally gave the Turkish international Yilmaz the chance he has been waiting for.
He did not disappoint. The 21-year-old showed plenty of promise going forward as he took on the modern full-back role of effectively going box-to-box at times.
But he was also much sturdier in defence than Barisic has been in big matches and the 3-0 scoreline is not a fault of his for the most part with the Italian league leaders just too good for the Light Blues.
With this latest proof that Yilmaz can handle the biggest of occasions in the Champions League, van Bronckhorst now has to keep him in the team as much as possible to keep building his confidence.
Barisic is perhaps somebody now in danger of being sold at the end of the season with his contract at Ibrox expiring in May 2024.
No longer is the 29-year-old an unrivalled shoo-in for a starting spot at Ibrox and all of the evidence so far has suggested that he can’t keep up with the youngster’s exuberance and general ability right now.
In other Rangers news, Leon Balogun left the club in the summer and has now revealed what it was like after his final days at Auchenhowie.