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Balogun, Aribo with Rangers, join Barca in Europa Q’finals

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Super Eagles duo, Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo on Thursday played vital role as FC Rangers reached their first European quarter-final in 14 years after a resilient second-leg showing at Red Star Belgrade sealed a landmark Europa League aggregate victory.

While inspiring midfielder, Aribo played for 68 minutes, his compatriot, Balogun was in action for the entire duration. Mirko Ivanic drilled in an early opener to give the Serbian champions hope at the hostile Rajko Mitic Stadium.

But Ryan Kent’s deflected second-half finish ended the tie as a contest after Allan McGregor made several key saves.

Ben Nabouhane grabbed a late Red Star consolation from the spot.

Rangers were rocked for spells with the aggregate scoreline at 3-1, but yet again their veteran keeper was on hand to deliver another outstanding performance in his 99th in European for the Scottish champions, ensuring their advantage was not reduced further.

The Ibrox side will discover their last-eight opponents in today’s draw, the first time they have reached this stage since their journey to the UEFA Cup final in 2008.

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In another encounter, Barcelona had to come from behind to seal a 2-1 victory over Galatasaray and book their place in the quarter-finals.

Xavi’s men attempted to dominate possession early on but Galatasaray had the game’s first real chance. Through on goal, Bafetimbi Gomis but saw his shot repelled by a desperate lunge from Jordi Alba.

Frenkie de Jong found himself in a similar position a few minutes later. The Dutchman really should have scored but dragged his effort wide under little pressure.

The opener came shortly before the half-hour mark from Galatasaray captain Marcao, whose diving header nestled perfectly into Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s side netting. The defender booted the corner flag in celebration, breaking it and forcing a two-minute delay while it was fixed.

Pedri looked a real threat for Barcelona and netted his side’s equaliser ten minutes later. The young midfielder sat two defenders down before firing home from close range.

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Barcelona nearly went ahead with the final kick of the first half. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was at full stretch to connect with a cross, but his looping header hit the top of the crossbar and went behind.

They would eventually get that go-ahead goal a few minutes after the break. Inaki Pena made two excellent saves to deny Sergio Busquets and Pedri, but he could not get to the final effort from Aubameyang, who tapped home to keep his outrageous run of form going.

That goal changed the tone of the whole game. Barcelona began to dominate possession and control everything about the match, and although clear-cut chances were at a premium, Barcelona looked comfortably on top.

Unfortunately, the game ended on a bit of a sour note. Alba’s perceived timewasting drew the ire of the home fans, who began launching missiles in his direction. The left-back responded by hoofing the ball into the crowd, kicking off a bit of an on-field skirmish.

Things soon calmed down and Barcelona should have killed the game off with a third, only for Ferran Torres to strike the crossbar with an effort that VAR probably would have ruled onside had he scored.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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