Giovanni van Bronckhorst made Leon Balogun ‘proper angry’ with one Rangers snub
Giovanni van Bronckhorst made Leon Balogun “proper, proper angry” by leaving him out of the Rangers team in the Europa League final.
The Dutchman left the Nigerian international on the bench for the showpiece final in Seville on 18 May, and despite making six substitutions on the night that is where he stayed, as the Gers ultimately lost 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
Balogun, who left Ibrox at the end of the season, says that his relationship with the now-former manager was otherwise fine, but the snub at the end of the Europa League run was the one thing that left him “fuming”, as his extensive experience in the Budesliga meant he had played the German side plenty of times, and his Mainz history would have made the clash “personal”.
Speaking on The Beautiful Game Podcast, released on Tuesday (6 December, 56min 50sec), the centre-back said of missing the final in Seville: “That’s probably the only thing where I was mad, like proper, proper angry at the manager.
“Because I felt in terms of having played German opposition, not playing me in that final against Frankfurt, not even as a sub, that was disappointing and really made me angry.
“I was there, but not even coming on as a sub, in extra time whatsoever, he picked another player at the time for my position and I could not believe it.
“At that moment I thought, ‘You know what, swallow your pride. You need to push the team from the bench as good as you can.’
“But after that I was fuming because I’d played against Frankfurt loads. For me it was even a bit personal because I used to play for Mainz and they are rivals. So that would have been very personal to me to hurt them.”
What might have been
Calvin Bassey was at the height of his development at the culmination of last season’s European run, and his performances in the competition are ultimately what led to his record-breaking move to Ajax.
So it is no surprise that Van Bronckhorst picked him, but the decision to put him at centre-back instead of Balogun, while opting for Borna Barisic on the left could be questioned in hindsight.
The now-QPR defender’s logic that his history against German opposition and personal motivation made him perfect for the occasion makes plenty of sense, even if it is always easy to see after the occasion.
The Europa League run was arguably Van Bronckhorst’s crowning achievement in his year at Rangers, and he came within a penalty shoot out of winning it, so some would argue it’s difficult to criticise.
But it is completely understandable that Balogun, who has made his love for the Light Blues clear regularly even since his departure, would be filled with regret at missing out.
It is impossible to say whether his presence might have helped preserve the lead that Joe Aribo had given the Gers on the night, but the 34-year-old former Ibrox favourite will no doubt always feel he could have.
In other Rangers news, a BBC pundit highlighted a “big problem” for one Bears player live from Qatar.