Rangers are in pole position to progress to the quarter-finals of the Europa League after a stunning win over Fenerbahce.
Barry Ferguson outthought Jose Mourinho with the Special One resorting to throwing on as many attacking players as he could, only to see John Souttar and Leon Balogun keep them at bay.
At the heart of the performance though was Nicolas Raskin, Rangers midfield powerhouse who covered every blade of grass.
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Nicolas Raskin dominant as Rangers beat Fenerbahce
The 24-year old has emerged as a player who the next Rangers manager can build his team around with the sort of display that Ferguson himself would have been proud of.
Defensively he was immense with two clearances, one blocked shot, one interception and two tackles, his pass success rate of 81% was also impressive given the pressure that he was under and the quality of opposition.
What was more impressive were his attacking statistics.
Considering Raskin was deployed as a defensive midfielder, he finished the game with an xG (expected goals) of 0.24, xA (expected assists) of 0.22, three shots at goal with two on target and one big chance created.
With a 9/10 score on Rangers News player ratings, he was a worthy man of the match despite the efforts of Vaclav Cerny and Cyriel Dessers.
With Mohamed Diomande more than playing his part too, Rangers won the midfield battle by forcing Fenerbahce wide and then driving through the middle when they won back possession to devastating effect.
Is Raskin a player that Rangers could cash in on?
As Alan Hutton once said, it’s not games against St Mirren and Motherwell that clubs in England and abroad look at.
How they assess players is at international level and in Europe, which is where Raskin has excelled this season.
Against Man Utd and Tottenham Hotspur he looked every inch a player capable of playing in the Premier League.
In each of these games Rangers had a deeper No.10 which has allowed Raskin to be more aggressive, it has also allowed him to release the ball quicker.
The diminutive Belgian doesn’t suit slow paced football and it would be a surprise if teams in the top five leagues aren’t starting to take notice and he could yet achieve his dream of playing in the Premier League.
Midfielders with pace, energy, tenacity and the ability to contribute in the final third are worth their weight in gold with Raskin now worth considerably more than £1.75m it cost to sign him from Standard Liege.
