Rangers: Barisic stole the show for Croatia vs Slovenia | OneFootball

Rangers powerhouse Borna Barisic stole the show for Croatia in their 3-0 win over Slovenia in their World Cup qualifying game on Tuesday night.

Marko Livaja, Mario Pasalic and Nikola Vlasic scored the goals for Croatia, with Ivan Perisic and Mislav Orsic providing the assists, but it was Barisic who recorded the highest SofaScore rating on the night.

The left-back was given a score of 7.8/10 for his performance against Slovenia despite not getting on the scoresheet or creating a goal. This was the highest score of any player in the game.

Is Barisic Rangers' best defender?

Yes

Vote

No

Vote

Defensively, the Rangers beast was almost perfect. Per SofaScore, he won six of his nine duels on the pitch as he made four tackles, two clearances and one interception during the match. He also avoided being dribbled past by a Slovenia player, which shows that he was able to guard Atalanta’s Josip Ilicic – who played on the right wing – effectively.

On the ball, Barisic was also able to show off his quality. Per SofaScore, he had an impressive 93 touches of the ball and completed 96% of his passes. The full-back produced one key pass, was successful with all three of his long ball attempts and completed 100% of his dribbles in possession.

1 of 15

Who scored a hat-trick on their debut?

Carl Skomager Hansen

Egil Ostenstad

Peter Lovenkrands

Morten Wieghorst

This shows that the defender was able to merge stoic defending with class and creativity on the ball. Barisic held Slovenia’s attackers at bay by being strong in his duels and winning a number of tackles, whilst then completing a high rate of passes when going the other way – contributing to Croatia’s dominance.

His 7.8 – man of the match – rating for Croatia shows how he stole the show from the goalscorers on the night. It also highlights how Barisic is capable of producing high-class performances at the top level.

Steven Gerrard will be delighted by this performance as it will surely be a confidence booster for the defender heading back into club football this weekend

AND in other news, Rangers dealt yet another fitness setback with Ibrox “leader”, Gerrard will be fuming…