Glasgow Rangers of Scotland defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun says he and his colleagues at The Gers must maintain full focus on Thursday’s clash with Fernebahce of Turkey in the UEFA Europa League, Sports247 reports.
While also acknowledging that their fixture this weekend with fellow Glasgow-based rivals, Celtic in the Scottish Premiership is also a big clash to think of, Balogun conceded that the bigger battle to worry about now is how to overcome Fernebahce, and their maverick manager, Jose Mourinho.
The former Fortuna Dusseldof of Germany and Brighton of England centre back, who once combined to create a formidable ‘Oyibo Wall’ with William Troost-Ekong in the heart of the Super Eagles’ defence, also noted that Rangers have the advantage, after they surprisingly won the first leg 3-1 away in Istanbul, with fellow-Nigerian, Cyriel Dessers netting one of the goals, but Balogun acceded that the team from Glasgow cannot afford to relax until the last whistle Thursday night at Ibrox Stadium.
“It’s a big week with two big fixtures,” Balogun acknowledged and he added, “Obviously, versus Fernebahce, that’s one we have to win; after such a good result over there. We are going against ‘The Special One’ again, and some very good players. It’s far from over.”
Balogun also looked at the possibility of his team getting distracted by this weekend’s Old Firm clash ahead of them, but stressed that he is personally fully focused on Thursday’s Europa League fixture against Mourinho’s side.
“I can only speak for myself. All I’m thinking about is this next match, and I won’t say much about the weekend yet. Obviously, it is there, and Celtic are waiting for us. Those games are always big but, right now, the main focus is on getting through to the next round in Europe. Therefore, we have to focus only on Fernebahce for now,” Balogun affirmed.
