Rangers player ratings vs Panathinaikos: Jack Butland the hero, 4/10 teammate flops
Rangers progressed in the Champions League on Wednesday after overcoming Panathinaikos 3-1 on aggregate with a 1-1 draw on the night.
Rangers beat Panathinaikos 2-0 at Ibrox last week, and this proved to be the advantage the Gers needed to send Russell Martin’s side through.
While the Greek side did take the lead in the second leg through Filip Duricic’s header, Djeidi Gassama once again came off the bench to find the net.
As a result, Ibrox News has analysed the Rangers players’ performances as they progressed into the next qualifying round.
Jack Butland is Rangers’ hero
Butland had a fantastic performance against Panathinaikos in the first leg, making numerous excellent saves.
On Wednesday, the Englishman followed this up with an even better display in a far tougher environment.
The goalkeeper made several saves early on to keep Rangers’ advantage intact.
This was vital for the visitors as an early Panathinaikos could have completely changed the complexion of the match.
While he did eventually concede, it was no doubt a performance he can look back on proudly.
Nasser Djiga struggles again v Panathinaikos
While Butland did impress, the goalkeeper was only allowed to shine due to how poor Rangers’ backline were.
Nasser Djiga was particularly poor, with the centre-back struggling once again in Martin’s system.
The Wolves loanee was the Rangers star who played Duricic on despite the opener.
While it was tight, it was poor defending and the centre-back has to do better to prevent Duricic from having a free header.
On top of this, Djiga made numerous other mistakes that could have proved to be costly if not for Panathinaikos’ awful finishing and Butland’s brilliance.
Against a better opposition, these errors will be punished.
Rangers player ratings vs Panathinaikos
Jack Butland – 8
James Tavernier – 4
Nasser Djiga – 4
John Souttar – 7
Max Aarons – 5
Mohamed Diomande – 6
Joe Rothwell – 6
Nicolas Raskin – 6
Kieran Dowell – 7
Danilo – 6
Findlay Curtis – 5
Substitutes
Djeidi Gassama – 8
Jefte – 6
Nedim Bajrami – 6
Cyriel Dessers – 5
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