A GOOD team, so the old saying goes, contains a mixture of youth and experience.
But would deploying Leon King, who turned 18 at the start of the year, just ahead of Allan McGregor, who is, at 40, old enough to be his faither, help Rangers to get a result in their first ever meeting with Liverpool at Anfield tonight?
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, clearly a believer in the oft-used football cliché, was hoping they could.
Yet, their hosts have dealt out defeats to AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Manchester United, Porto, Paris Saint-Germain and Roma at their fabled stadium since returning to the forefront of the European game under Jurgen Klopp in recent years.
So, a teenage centre half and a goalkeeper who is in his fifth decade were hardly going to damage the English giants’ quest to win a seventh Champions League title. Both men, not least McGregor, had their moments in this Group A encounter. But the gulf in quality between the combatants was glaring. Liverpool ran out worthy winners at the end of the 90 one-sided minutes.
King had only made 15 appearances for the Rangers first team prior to tonight. Sure, he had come on in the second-half of the matches against Ajax away and Napoli at home this term. But this was a step up and then some for the youngster.
Starting against a forward line which contained Mo Salah, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, a front four who collectively cost their employers over £200m, was the sternest test of his embryonic career to date.
In his opening game of the season back in August he had squared up to Blair Henderson of Spartans in a SPFL Trust Cup game Ainslie Park in front of a crowd of 331.
If Filip Helander, John Souttar or even James Sands, who deputised in the specialist position with varying degrees of success due to the lengthy injury list which his manager has been wrestling with of late, had been available there is no chance that King would have featured.
McGregor, too, was only back in the team due to the poor form of Jon McLaughlin, who had replaced him in the starting line-up when the 2022/23 campaign commenced, before the international break.
But the veteran is no stranger to these sort of occasions. They have often brought out the very best in him. He was the Europa League finalists’ stand-out performer by a distance last night. It would have been a heavy and humiliating reverse if he had not been on the park.
King slotted in to the right of the Rangers rearguard outside Connor Goldson – the visitors played a 3-4-2-1 formation when they were in possession and changed to a 5-4-1 when they were without the ball – and inside his skipper James Tavernier
Neither King nor McGregor was to blame for the opener in the seventh minute. Ben Davies fouled Nunez just outside his area and Trent Alexander-Arnold curled a free-kick into the top left corner. The slightest mistake is punished ruthlessly at this level.
Both men, though, justified their selection thereafter. In the first-half, King sprayed inch-perfect passes to Borna Barisic wide on the left and Malik Tillman on the right. He also slid in and forced a corner as Nunez was bearing down on goal. McGregor, meanwhile, kept his side in touch by denying Salah, Diaz and Nunez three times.
The second of those, an instinctive one-handed save after Jordan Henderson had sent his team mate clean through with a deft chip over the heads of the defence, was classic “Greegsy”. The travelling supporters in the Anfield Road Stand behind his goal revelled in their idol’s vintage display.
King silenced The Kop early in the second-half when Kostas Tsimikas burst into his penalty box. He forced a corner. But he conceded a penalty soon after as Diaz jinked between him and John Lundstram with a clumsy challenge. French referee Clerment Turpin was correct to point to the spot and Salah took full advantage.
McGregor, who had dived to his left as the winger stroked down the middle, kept the scoreline respectable when he pushed a Jota attempt over the crossbar with his fingertips. He capped his showing by preventing Salah from bagging his second in injury-time.
His performance underlined that he has much to offer the Ibrox club despite his advancing years and is not ready to hang up his gloves quite yet. What would the final result would have been if he had not been between the sticks?
King can be proud of how he acquitted himself on such a stage and will learn from the outing. Older and more experienced defenders would not have coped as well. He will not come up against many better teams in the years to come.
