It was a night of few positives as Philippe Clement’s Rangers suffered a 4-1 hammering by Lyon in the second matchday of the Europa League first phase.
But as Lyon’s electrifying frontline pulled the Glasgow giants apart on their home soil – Rangers’ developing Robin Propper and John Souttar partnership part of a backline which was left chasing shadows throughout – at least the performance of one man in royal blue gave Ally McCoist something to smile about on co-commentary duty.
The Rangers legend roared in delight as Nedim Bajrami brought down a crossfield pass with a velveteen first touch in the second-half. Bubblegum Bajrami playing as if he had coated his boots in a layer of superglue in the dressing room.
“That’s sensational. That is fantastic!” McCoist said on TNT Sports, Bajrami’s balletic brilliance not quite enough to see him overshadow the sparkling Rayan Cherki or the fizzing Malick Fofana but a joy to witness nonetheless.
“To catch it on the left foot, then the right foot to take it with you. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful, it really is. There’s a player there.”
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Philippe Clement hints at new role for Rangers’ Nedim Bajrami
Former Rangers defender Sergio Porrini labelled Bajrami a ‘very exciting signing’ when the former Sassuolo ace – who he knows from his role in the Albanian national team coaching set-up – moved to Ibrox in a £3.5 million deadline day deal.
And, while some have expressed concerns over Bajrami’s lack of pace, the vision and twinkle-toed technical ability he brings to Clement’s squad has the elegant 25-year-old already threatening ‘fan favourite’ status.
Upon joining at the end of August, Bajrami told the Rangers fans his preferred role is through the middle. The former Empoli man has been utilised wide on the left so far, however.
Though Clement is not ruling out fielding Bajrami in his favoured number ten spot once Oscar Cortes and Rabbi Matondo are back to full fitness.
And while Tom Lawrence has done his best to nail down that position of late – Lawrence scored a stunning winner in Rangers’ 1-0 win over Hibernian last time out and did the same against Dundee United – the idea of Bajrami threading through-balls into Cyriel Dessers from just behind the striker is a mouth-watering one indeed.
“Yeah, for sure it’s potentially a position that he can play,” Clement told reporters at full-time. “But we’re also in a situation for the moment that Oscar Cortes is out, that Rabbi Matondo is out, and that we’re not having a lot of left-wingers.
“So [Bajrami] can do that position really good, like he showed the last couple of weeks. So it has to do with the availability of other players also, these choices.”
Clement explains what disappointed him in Rangers’ Lyon defeat
Bajrami scored his one and, so far, only goal as Rangers defeated Henrik Rydstrom’s Malmo 2-0 on matchday one.
A result which could look all the more important in hindsight, given the sheer quality of the teams Clement’s side are due to face in the remainder of the tournament’s league phase. T
ottenham Hotspur, Nice and Olympiakos are all coming over the next few weeks.
Clement, meanwhile, was disappointed by the way Rangers made life easier than they needed to for a Lyon side who’s thrilling frontline made sure to punish their sloppy hosts.
“We didn’t reward ourselves on two sides [attack and defence],” adds Clement, the under-pressure Vaclav Cerny missing a sitter seconds before Fofana’s opener. “I think we started the game with good intentions, with good intensity, with good quality also.
“To put fire in the stands, to have an amazing European evening, and you have two 200 per cent chances, the first two chances of the game, you need to kill them off to get a special European night.
“It’s like that against teams with this quality, you don’t get so many chances. So that’s disappointing, and it’s also disappointing the way we got goals against [us after] losing balls in the areas where we cannot lose the ball.”
