Croatia’s decision to drop Rangers star Borna Barisic pays off with qualification for Euro 2024.
Manager Zlatko Dalic took the decision to drop Borna Barisic alongside teammates Nikola Vlasic, Petar Musa and Josip Brekalo with qualification for the tournament on the line.
Claiming that Borna Barisic was not delivering what Dalic “wanted” in recent internationals, the decision to put the Rangers star on the nation’s B-list was a bold one.
But it has paid off with a clear message sent to Croatia’s underperformers that a failure to deliver will not be tolerated by the nation’s management.
Going on to beat Latvia (2-0) and Armenia (1-0), the results have guaranteed Croatia’s qualification for the tournament in Germany.
Borna Barisic faces Croatia challenge amid Rangers exit links
Borna Barisic will hope to break back into the Croatia team ahead of the tournament but the 31-year-old is approaching a major crossroads at Rangers.
Out of contract at the end of the season, reports have suggested that Rangers are in discussions over a new deal and that Philippe Clement wants to keep the defender around.
However, there have been links to the likes of AS Roma in Italy with Borna Barisic free to discuss terms with another side come January.
Rangers signed Borna Barisic from NK Osijek in 2018 and the left-back has gone on to play an influential if not inconsistent role at Ibrox.
Making 218 appearances in total at Ibrox, Borna has scored nine goals and laid on 52 assists, whilst he has 35 caps for the Croatia national team.
Left-back uncertainty
There is some uncertainty over the left-back position at Rangers between Borna Barisic’s contract situaiton and discussions around Ridvan Yilmaz.
Reports this week have suggested that the Turkish international’s agent flew in to talk to Rangers about his client’s lack of playing time.
This comes against the backdrop of links to Galatasaray in the player’s home country.
When you include the situation with Croatia star Borna Barisic, it suggests that the Rangers squad could be about to head into a period of great change in the position.
Whilst both players have their qualities, they also have their foibles and it’ll be interesting to see how the position looks heading into next season.
