Rangers full-back Borna Barisic scored a hattrick of penalties across both legs against Royal Antwerp and the Croatian international could’ve added a fourth had he taken the club’s final penalty of the tie.
But after Scott Wright had won the penalty for the Ibrox side in the dying embers of the frenetic 5-2 Europa League victory over Royal Antwerp, up stepped Swiss striker Cedric Itten.
Barisic is on penalty duties in the absence of captain James Tavernier and he revealed post-match it was his call on who’d strike the final of five spot kicks from across the two legs.
The 28-year-old Croatian also revealed that he handed the ball to Cedric Itten as a reward for his effort in training and in an effort to help boost the striker’s confidence.
“The gaffer said yesterday if I want to shoot I am going to shoot,” said Barisic in a BT Sport post-match interview.
“I didn’t have a problem with it. I concentrate and I score and I am very, very happy.
“It (Itten taking the final penalty) wasn’t agreed. I was supposed to take it, but he asked me. I was thinking that strikers always need confidence and they get confidence when they score goals.
“We are playing football to win the game. It is not about my personal things. So I give it to him so he can get confidence. He deserves it. He trains a lot, he trains hard. I am very pleased for him because it is very good for our team to have players who can score. He was happy.
“I have said it a lot of times this season. I think our biggest thing is our character, not individual players. When we play like a team we are very strong. This situation just showed our character.
“It is a team sport so I always choose to win the game. I am happy for Cedric to take the penalty. We have one more player who has a lot of confidence now.”
The comments are symbolic of the real leadership and togetherness that exists within the Ibrox camp and naturally they went down very well with Rangers supporters.
Fawning Ibrox fans saluted the Croatian for helping Ced the Ted get back to scoring ways on a night which will live long in the memory of Rangers fans:
https://twitter.com/WestMidsLoyal/status/1365031898704183304
https://twitter.com/TheRailwayBears/status/1365210726873391104
https://twitter.com/1873Rickster/status/1365158485802045441
https://twitter.com/drusincmur/status/1365038284934684677
https://twitter.com/Johnboy720525/status/1365215652060024834
https://twitter.com/theboysof609/status/1365052746416726028
Rangers will now go into the draw for the Last 16 of the Europa League following the 9-5 victory over two legs, with the Gers the highest scorers in the round of 32.
Barisic isn’t the only one who’s been getting praise for his actions either after a one-time £75m star heaped praise on a Rangers player during the match.
