Possession lost 14x: Rangers liability with 44% passing accuracy almost cost GvB - opinion

Gio van Bronckhorst secured a place in his second final as manager of Rangers as his side won 3-1 at Ibrox on Thursday night.

The Gers were 1-0 down on aggregate heading into the second leg of their Europa League semi-final in Glasgow but they produced a magical night in front of their home supporters as they put in a brilliant display under the lights.

James Tavernier and Glen Kamara both scored well-worked goals in the first half to put the Light Blues 2-1 up in the tie.

Alarm bells may have been ringing inside Ibrox as Christopher Nkunku levelled the tie with a sublime volleyed finish past Allan McGregor but they were soon silenced by the explosion of noise when John Lundstram made it 3-2 to the Gers on aggregate.

The midfielder reacted first to a loose ball inside the box and placed the ball into an empty net with his weak foot to send the stadium into raptures.

It was a special night for the Gers and a number of heroes on the pitch put in terrific performances to help them on their way. However, one player who failed to step up to the standard set by his team-mates was left-back Borna Barisic, as he put in a disappointing display.

The Croatia international was described as “spooked” against Celtic on Sunday by ex-Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson and that criticism could have been used again last night. The 29-year-old’s play was lacking in quality and consistency as he struggled at the back, with the occasion potentially causing him to lose his cool.

On the ball, he was erratic and unreliable. As per SofaScore, he only completed 44% of his attempted passes and lost possession 14 times. He was successful with two of his five crosses and had a 0% success rate with his five long passes, which shows that he was unable