“Gladiatorial – 10” – Rangers players rated v Braga

An astonishing, history-making night took place at Ibrox yesterday evening, as Rangers became the only Scottish club to make the semi final of the Europa League.

Ibrox Noise brings you our ratings on a big big result in Govan:

McGregor:

Being honest, he had nothing to do. Helpless for the only goal, and other than a bit of kicking he was unneeded. 6

Tavernier:

This was a gladiatorial evening from the captain. Defensively robust, and his attacking was world class. That’s right. World class. Took the responsibility from the penalty, and made an assist too. He couldn’t have done any more. 10.

Goldson:

Lost his man for Braga’s goal, and was a little loose with the ball. He was decent, but thankfully he wasn’t tested heavily otherwise. 6

Bassey:

CB just isn’t his position, and it showed as he looked shaky frequently on the ball, letting men by him too easily and having to recover a lot. Managed just one single defensive contribution all night. 6

Barisic:

Oh boy, is he back or what. As we’ve preached to you, he’s been back a while, rediscovering his mojo on international duty. And it’s been showing in his domestic displays. This time he showed it on the world stage. On this form, he’s untouchable and he’s world class. Superb. 9

Jack:

Brighter from Jack than recently, more convincing in a defensive sense and very tight with passing, this looked a lot more like the Jack we know. 8

Lundstram:

A truly titanic midfielder who is bestriding the centre like a colossus, Lunny is completely irreplaceable in this form. Big, strong, with superb vision and passing, the ex-Sheffield man managed more defending than anyone else aside Goldson but mixed it with everything else. Another brilliant performance. Steven Davis will just have to bide his time. 9

Kent:

Kent will tear anyone’s defence apart again and again in this form. It wasn’t team-destroying, but he had no fear and just went for them, with pure gusto. Excellent display and played a big role in such a good attack. 8

Aribo:

His best for a long time – still capable of even better but managed two massive assists, 6 key passes and a handful of dribbles. Looking way more like his old self too. That goal v St Mirren helped a tonne. 9

Ramsey:

Have to say no idea what match Alex Rae was watching to call Ramsey outstanding, because he was far from it. Poor passing (some of the lowest average out there in the blue), wasteful use of the ball, and we really expect a lot more from a player with his reputation. Just didn’t impact anything like the others. 6

Roofe:

Hard working and never gave up for a second, he can’t hold the ball up like Alfie as we all know, but he can feed off service from others and graft with it. Unlucky to only score one, having hit the bar as well and having one ruled out. A good shift. 8

Subs:

Wright:

Tbh he did better than Ramsey. Some nice runs and tried to make stuff happen. 7

Kamara:

Negligible impact. Again. 5

Balogun:

Shored up defence nicely for extra time when we needed solidity. 7

Sakala:

Fresh legs to cause some mayhem. 6

Arfield:

Probably his worst performance in the shirt, he missed two colossal sitters and only made 4 passes. Didn’t matter in the end though. 4

Manager:

Gio picked a good team, aside personal quibbles about Bassey over Balogun, but the XI did the job for him. The substitutions helped to stabilise the result, rather than changing the course of disaster, and it’s another night our manager can look himself in the mirror and be very pleased. 9