The Glasgow Rangers reached the League Cup semi-finals on Saturday, beating Hibernian 2-0 for one of their better afternoons of their 2025/26 campaign.
The goals of Nicolas Raskin and Bojan Miovski secured the victory for Russell Martin’s side after Martin Boyle recognized the goal 0-0 in the first half.
It’s been an annoying season for the Light Blues, and there have been no wins in the Scottish Premiership so far. There were also issues with the entire pitch under the new head coach, especially in the left-back position.
Why the Rangers struggled at left-back this season
With right-footed right-back Max Aaron starting the campaign in that position, it was clear that Martin was not satisfied with Efe and Ridvan Ilmaz as his option as a left-back option.
Before the club decided to sell him to Palmeiras, Jeffte came aside for several games after it was revealed that the player was not working at left back.
The Rangers rented Jayden Megoma from Brentford as they sold two natural fullbacks. The young players who started 11 league matches in the 2024/25 campaign are all loaned out in Preston in the Championship.
The British defender lost 56% of the duel and failed to register an assist in three appearances for the Rangers in previous premierships, according to his sofa score. The club can let go of the stars once compared to Lionel Messi.
The Rangers groped for their Lionel Messi.
In 2019, Croatian coach Davor Rupnik compared Borna Barisic, who was at Ibrox at the time, to the legendary attackers from Barcelona and Argentina.
Rupnik said: “Many people don’t know he’s a great free kick and a Pee-staker on the set. He has a left foot like Lionel Messi. He’s greatly improved and is extremely hardworking. He wanted extra gym work in the evening after training.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean that, like the World Cup-winning icon, Balicci scored two or three goals a week, over four or five players, but he had a left foot that consistently provided quality at the top of the pitch.
Borna Baricic’s premier creativity for rangers | ||
|---|---|---|
season | exterior | assist |
23/24 | 17 | 3 |
22/23 | 29 | 10 |
21/22 | 19 | 3 |
20/21 | 30 | 7 |
19/20 | twenty two | 8 |
18/19 | 15 | 3 |
total | 132 | 34 |
Statistics through the Transfer Market | ||
As you can see in the table above, Croatia International provided a major threat in the final third as a creative force from left back throughout his premier career.
The left-footed star created more than 12 “big chances” in all competitions in three of his final five seasons at Ibrox.
Looking back, considering what happened in the left-back position up to this point, the Rangers may regret Balisic moving forward as they were a proven premier performer who had a big impact on the top end of the pitch.
Unfortunately for the defender, he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in Legane at Lariga in January, and is now without a club and has been released by Trabzonspor while dealing with that horrible injury in the summer.
But in the end, the Rangers lost the star who was “like Lionel Messi” on a free transfer, and their current left-back situation shows they’ve been looking for a replacement for him for over a year since his departure.