Leon Balogun shares Europa League verdict at Rangers after what has happened
Leon Balogun says the Europa League has been a joy for Rangers after being quizzed on how far they can go in the competition this season.
It has been an incredibly poor season for the Gers who sit 13 points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, highlighting just how far they have fallen.
With the league out of sight and the Light Blues also crashing out of the Scottish Cup, the Europa League is the only thing Rangers have left to play for, realistically.
Leon Balogun says Rangers will be confident in the Europa League
Philippe Clement is under mounds of pressure in his job at Ibrox due to how poorly his side has performed throughout the season so far.
Scottish Premiership form has continued to be inconsistent which has left Celtic running the show, even with plenty of the season to go.
The shocking 1-0 defeat to Scottish Championship side Queen’s Park was the just tip of the iceberg, in what has been another embarrassing year on and off the pitch, so far.
With that in mind, there is even more pressure upon the Light Blues to perform in the Europa League, something they have been doing so far.
Speaking to Sports Boom, Balogun said: “It’s hard for me to say because when I’ve played for Rangers, we’ve always been pretty good in Europe.
“And I think there’s a level of confidence that we don’t have to really be afraid or hide from anyone, as long as we stick to what we want to do.
“And obviously, sometimes you need a bit of luck. but we’ve played some big teams like Tottenham, and Manchester United. Man United was a close call, we lost in the end.
“Unfortunately, probably a draw would have been fair. [It was] a late equaliser against Tottenham. But overall, Europe has always been, I think, a well of joy for Rangers, in recent years at least.”
Philippe Clement can’t afford to crash out of Europa League
With some of the teams that are left in the Europa League currently, Rangers have picked their hardest route to try and win silverware this season, it seems.
However, with plenty of pressure on his shoulders, Clement may need to pull off something special.
As Balogun points out, the Light Blues were unlucky to lose their game at Old Trafford against Manchester United, while they also registered a really strong result and performance against Tottenham.
The Scottish Premiership side are yet to find out who they face at the next stage in the final 16 of the competition, but Clement will be confident of moving forward.
Although his side got all three points with a 3-1 win against Hearts on Sunday (16 February), it was an unconvincing performance, where they were aided by two own goals.
That has only increased questions surrounding Clement’s abilities and the boss has to step up his standards, as he looks to follow in the unlikely footsteps of Giovanni van Bronckhorst.