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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Gordon Parks

Gio van Bronckhorst keeps Rangers foes guessing by 'hiding information' as Red Star boss Dejan Stankovic remains wary

Red Star Belgrade boss Dejan Stankovic insists his side are ready to crack the Rangers Europa League code by outguessing Gio van Bronckhorst's tactical plan.

The former Serbian international believes Thursday's last 16 first leg at Ibrox will be an occasion to relish for his players as they plot a way to take a result home for next Thursday's return clash.

Stankovic has already labeled the Borussia Dortmund bashing Light Blues as favourites to claim an advantage in the encounter but he's adamant he can outfox his counterpart and deliver a scoreline which can give them the edge at a packed Marakana in a week's time.

He said: “Giovanni does a great job with Rangers and he has a similar way of playing like Red Star.

“He is very good at hiding information, because you never know whether he will play three in midfield.

Red Star manager Dejan Stankovic (SNS Group)

“But we never speak about individual players. Obviously if someone is fast we will try and stop him, but, generally, Rangers are a great team. We focus on the team rather than individuals.

“It’s also part of our motivation. Rangers will have 50,000 people so we will do all we can to ensure we have a good result for our supporters.

“It’s really important we are still able to play in front of our supporters, we have missed that for the last two years.

"We played AC Milan with no supporters, so we know how important it is to ensure we have a positive result to take home.

“We will have 50,000 fans at the Marakana."

Rangers Manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (SNS Group)

Stankovic is also adamant there's no pressure on his side – and he's pledged to go on the offensive when required in Govan as they attempt to take a huge step towards a quarter-final spot.

He said: “We always try to play our game, It’s not up to us to play offensively or defensively, you adapt in the transition.

“If there’s an opportunity to attack Rangers we will, if we need to defend we will defend.

“This is a big step for us, given the prize at stake, but we don’t feel pressure, we came here to play. That is always the case with us.

“Domestic is different from the Europa League so the approach is different. These games are good for us, when we were drawn in our group the media didn’t give us a chance. So these are games to be enjoyed.”

Red Star defender Strahinja Eraković revealed he's already had an insight into the Ibrox European night experience from teammate Aleksandar Dragovic and can't wait to sample it for himself.

He said: “Dragovic played two years ago with Bayer Leverkusen and he said the atmosphere was fantastic so I am looking forward to experiencing it.”

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