Borna Barisic insists Rangers are back where they belong. But the Ibrox ace also knows the team are going to have to raise their game if they’re going to live with the continental creme de la creme. The Light Blues are back in the big time after Gio van Bronckhorst’s team upset the odds for the umpteenth time in recent memory.
Their reward for dumping Dutch cracks PSV is a set of glamour ties against Liverpool, Ajax and Napoli as the bright lights of the Champions League prepare once again to shine down on Ibrox.
But even Barisic can’t deny Rangers rode their luck in Eindhoven at times, offering up Ruud van Nistelrooy’s team a set of chances that the elite European opposition they’re now preparing to face are far less likely to spurn. Van Bronckhorst’s team have already restored their reputation abroad with last year’s Europa League campaign.
But according to Barisic, the levels that propelled the club all the way to Seville may not even be enough to survive on UEFA’s main stage. Reflecting on another night of glory in southern Holland, the Croatian left-back said: “It is unbelievable. It is an unbelievable achievement for the club, for the fans and for the team.
“It is our first time together qualifying for the Champions League after four years here. After last year, it is unbelievable. We have been to the Europa League final and now into the Champions League. We beat a very good side in PSV and we are very happy and very proud of this team.
“It is one of the best moments in my career for sure. When I look back on what I have achieved here over the last four years with Rangers it is unbelievable.
“Now we have Champions League and I don’t know what to say. I am speechless. And so proud of the boys. I am very happy for the club to be back in the Champions League and where we belong. It is a huge achievement. I am very happy.
“We showed it against Dortmund and Leipzig last year but the Champions League is a different level.
“I am very happy for us to qualify. It will be hard, for sure, but it is the Champions League and it is the best teams in the world. We are part of that and we are very happy and very proud.
“It will give us a lot of confidence, of course, and PSV are a very good team. They have quality players and players that when you beat them, you deserve it.
“It is not just hunger and passion from us, it is also football quality and good players. We are a quality team and that is what we showed.”
Barisic was one of the first pieces Steven Gerrard put in place as he began his Ibrox rebuild. Now four years on, it’s van Bronckhorst who has completed the mission of restoring Rangers to the continent’s top table.
Barisic added: “It will be unbelievable. The Champions League anthem is something that you want in your career. I heard it at Ibrox last week and now we will hear it again. It is a great achievement and very good for us.
“To do what Rangers have done – and I am not talking about myself or the players but the club – is incredible.
“We won the league, got to the Europa League final and are now in the Champions League after 10 years of hard work and dropping to the fourth league.
“It is huge for the club and for the people at the club to have days like this.
“Everyone has given 100 per cent and in a few years we have achieved what we have achieved. We should be proud, we should be proud. I agree with the manager, he has brought Rangers back to where we belong.”
Antonio Colak grabbed the goal which draws a close to Rangers’ 12-year wander through the Champions League wilderness.
And Barisic could barely contain his joy for his fellow countryman, who has now hit five goals in his last six games.
The Croatia international said: “I am delighted for him. I said that he had started very well here and not only because of his goals.
“I know him personally, I spend time with him, and I know he is very happy to be here.
“He has settled here. He sees himself here in Glasgow and he has scored at the start of the season.
“You can see how much that goal meant to him and he has scored important goals already. He has big quality and he will be a very good player for Rangers. Congratulations to him.
“It was an incredible night. I don’t know what to say. When we played the match 2-2 at home, everyone said they were favourites and they were going to win.
“But the team showed what we can do. It is not only about character, we showed quality.
“We had some very good periods of the game and played very well and you cannot say that we didn’t deserve it. We have quality, we have fighting spirit and that is very important when you want to play Champions League. That is why we achieved it.”
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