RANGERS earned a valuable and deserved goalless draw in the first leg of their Europa League play-off tie against Legia Warsaw in Poland, setting them up nicely for the return tie at Ibrox next week.
Here are five talking points from a professional performance from Steven Gerrard's men on the continent...
RYAN JACK SHOULD BE IN THE SCOTLAND SQUAD
The form of the Rangers midfielder has been in tremendous form since the start of the season, and he looks to be one of the most improved players in the country.
He controlled the game in Warsaw during the first half, standing up to the physical battle posed by the Legia midfield and orchestrating attacks for his own side by moving the ball quickly and intelligently when in possession.
READ MORE: Should Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack be in the Scotland squad?
He looks to be at the very top of his game, and it will be a major surprise if he hasn’t forced his way into Steve Clarke’s forthcoming Scotland squad for the ties against Russia and Belgium. Even with the midfield area being the most competitive area of the national team, surely Jack cannot be ignored when he is in such great form.
ALFREDO MORELOS A CHANGED MAN?
The past indiscretions of Morelos clearly hadn’t gone unnoticed in Poland, with Steven Gerrard even being asked in the pre-match press conference if his striker needed psychological help, and the Legia defenders tried their utmost to bait the Colombian.
One challenge in particular from Jedrzejczyk was more WWE than Europa League, but the forward kept his head and kept his focus on the game.
He was asked to do a shift for the team here and he did it well, selflessly running the channels for his side. Blotted copybook slightly by picking up daft booking as he blocked a free-kick, but hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
FILIP HELANDER MAY HAVE TO WAIT TO BREAK GOLDSON/KATIC PARTNERSHIP
When Steven Gerrard signed Filip Helander for £3.5m in the summer, he immediately set out that he wouldn’t be picking his side based on their transfer fees. He has remained true to his word, and while Helander is still not fully fit, he may find it a tall order to displace either Connor Goldson or Nikola Katic at the heart of the Rangers defence.
Their partnership appears stronger with every game, and barring an injury, it is difficult to see how Helander can force his way into the reckoning as things stand.
RANGERS NOW RIGHT AT HOME WITH 4-3-3 FORMATION
Right from the off here, the striking thing about Rangers was that they were clearly well-drilled, entirely comfortable with the formation they were being asked to play and each player was clear on their role within it.
READ MORE: Legia Warsaw 0 Rangers 0: How the Rangers players rated in Warsaw
Each area of the team is connected, with the legs of Tavernier, Ojo, Aribo and Arfield ensuring that there is a fluidity about this Rangers team that the opposition find hard to deal with.
The formation is flexible too, meaning that the players are equally at home when dominating the ball or when they have to retreat to defend as a team, roles that Rangers played at different times throughout the night in Warsaw.
STEVEN GERRARD MAY SHOULD BE MORE PRO-ACTIVE WITH SUBSTITUTIONS
Rangers were never really in much danger in this game, and were well worth their goalless draw, but there were times in the second half that the hectic schedule may have been catching up with one or two of the men in blue.
Ojo in particular looked to have run his race early in the second half as the initiative swung away from Rangers a little and Legia took control of proceedings, but Gerrard refused to make any changes until the 86th minute in an attempt to regain the upper hand.
It is a minor criticism, but Gerrard’s side were crying out for someone like Jordan Jones to come on and take the ball for a run to give his defenders a break from around the midway point of the second period.
The Rangers boss is on record as being delighted with the strength in depth that he now possesses in his squad, and he may be better served to use it during games when his starting XI start to flag a little.
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