Rangers star Borna Barisic had a disappointing return to international duty with Croatia on Wednesday.
Barisic has been a key player for Steven Gerrard this season, making a whopping 45 appearances, scoring five goals and notching an impressive 13 assists.
He’s also been a favourite of Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic for several years, with previous first-choice left-back Ivan Strinic dropping out of the reckoning due to a heart condition soon after playing in the World Cup final in 2018.
It’s an important week for Barisic and his nation, with World Cup Qualifiers against Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta.
However, things didn’t get off to the best of starts in Ljubljana on Wednesday night, as the Vatreni suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to a Slovenia side that sits 51 places below them in 62nd in the FIFA World Rankings.
The Gers man was named in a star-studded starting XI alongside the likes of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic, but he wasn’t able to produce a typically strong performance.
After Nikola Vlasic had struck a post for the visitors, Slovenia took the lead through Sandi Lovric in the 15th minute.
Barisic was booked less than ten minutes later and wasn’t able to provide a significant attacking threat from the left, so Dalic substituted him at half-time for Dinamo Zagreb winger Mislav Orsic.
Croatia dominated possession in the game but the hosts defended well and managed to close out a shock victory to start their Group H campaign.
Barisic will be hoping he gets another chance when Croatia take on Cyprus in their second qualifier in Rijeka on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a Rangers star is reportedly looking to leave Ibrox amid interest from Serie A and Premier League clubs.
