At an age when most lads are playing Champions League on the PlayStation, Leon King was thrown into the real thing from the
start on Tuesday night and provided a reason to be cheerful on another tough night for Rangers.
Yes, Liverpool handed out another harsh lesson in reality with a 2-0 win that could have been doubled or trebled had Allan McGregor not defied Old Father Time and Darwin Nunez in equal measure with another collection of saves to add to his showreel. The keeper, at 40, might be in the twilight of his career but in front of him the kid who is 22 years younger and at the dawn of professional life showed a maturity and ability that suggests Rangers have grown a proper talent from their academy roots.
Gio van Bronckhorst’s decision to go with a back three – a back five in reality – meant a starting slot for 18-year-old King alongside Connor Goldson and Ben Davies. As learning curves go, it doesn’t get much steeper than trying to keep Nunez, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Mo Salah at bay and while Liverpool won comfortably, King produced a composed display that belied his lack of years and experience.
His team-mates noted it and appreciated it. Borna Barisic, whose night as left wing-back was spent trying to nullify Salah’s threat, knows just how tough a night it was for Rangers but he believes that with every passing 90 minutes at this level, Rangers are growing. And a look along the back line to see the teenager more than play his part was one of the big comforts the Croatian took from another tough night.
“I spoke with him after the game and I congratulated him,” Barisic said. “It is not easy. He is 18 years old. To come to Anfield and play like he played is a very big thing for the club and for him personally. A performance like this can only give him confidence to grow up. There is a long, long way in front of him and a lot of big moments. But I think he can hold his head up after this game and can be very positive.
“He needs to learn that in three days there is another game and he needs to forget this one. He has to take positive things out of the Liverpool game and do things better going forward. But he has a bright future. He is a great lad.
“He probably got in because we have some injuries, but it doesn’t matter. In football you never know. Sometimes you are on the bench for 10 games and then in one game everything turns. We play every three or four days, the schedule is crazy. You need to prepare all the time. He acts well in training and is a very good lad off the pitch. He is always on top of the world. That is why he can come to Anfield and play like he played. He has a lot of quality as well.”
Barisic has been showing his own qualities this term, responding to the challenge of Rangers signing left-back Ridvan Yilmaz by keeping the Turkish international on the bench. The 29-year-old admits he set himself high standards in pre-season in a bid to keep his place in the team and to enhance his prospects of starting for his country in the World Cup.
He added: “I am in the place where I wanted to be. From the start of pre-season, I said to myself there were some things that I wanted to do. I was very motivated. Even before pre-season. I worked very hard to be prepared, to not get injured, to play all the time because I know the season will be tough and there is a World Cup coming.
“So I was very motivated and I am in the place I wanted to be. I am happy that I am in a very good place and I can help the team.”
And he reckons the team is learning on the job in the Champions League, with steady progress in terms of performance since that matchday one horror show in Amsterdam. “It wasn’t an easy game at Anfield, of course,” he said. “We knew before the game where we had come to, Anfield, is always a hard place to play.
“But I think that we played a good match. I think we have progressed. I said it before, we want to do better in every Champions League game. Especially in the second half, we played much better. They scored two goals from set pieces. We lost, we are disappointed, but we can take some positive things from the game.
“It was the best game of the three we have played. We are just growing. It is Champions League level, our group is very tough, all the top teams are in it. We need to grow, we need to learn. We are doing that. In the Champions League you don’t have time and small details always decide a game.
“We grow, which is the most important thing. We can take many positive things from the game, but we also still have to learn a lot. If we keep the ball for a little bit longer it is easier for us to play. I also think that we can press them better. I believe it will be easy to pick ourselves up. Liverpool are one of the best teams in the world. The biggest thing is that we grow as a team in the Champions League.
“That can help us to grow and be better in our league, which is the most important thing for us. We will learn from this, we will grow, we will take positives.”
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