HAGI I CAN’T WAIT TO BRING FANS JOY
Playing at Ibrox with no fans is hard to imagine
THE man who lit up Ibrox last season is dreading the thought of playing matches for Rangers behind closed doors.
Romanian playmaker Ianis Hagi sparked the biggest comeback in recent Rangers history with a stunning double in his side’s Europa League triumph over Braga.
Their 3-2 victory gave them a foundation to progress into the last 16 – and Hagi still hasn’t given up hope of overcoming Bayer Leverkusen, despite their 3-1 first-leg defeat in the last match before lockdown.
Hagi instantly won over the Light Blues legions in February, on a rainsoaked night on a gluepot pitch, when he hauled them back from the brink as they trailed the Portuguese 2-0.
His second-half strikes in front of his old man Gheorghe, either side of a sparkling solo effort from Joe Aribo, lit up the ground and led the 21-year-old to declare afterwards: “Ibrox, baby.”
However, Scottish clubs are set to kick off the new season on August 1 in the ghostly surroundings of stadia with no fans, even as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon mulls over cutting social distancing guidelines from two metres to one.
Hagi said: “Playing at Ibrox with no fans? It’s hard to imagine but hopefully we don’t have to play many games without fans.
“I just can’t wait until we get back to normal and have the fans beside us, because this is why you play football.
“You play football for them, you play football to bring joy and football without the fans isn’t the same. “The Europa League games are really special, not only for me but for everyone. Everyone wants to compete at the highest level.
“We have the second leg with Leverkusen coming up and even though we lost the first game, nothing is over in football. “Anything can happen and we can’t just give up. “We showed everyone when we played
the
BY GARY RALSTON home game with Braga we can change everything in 10 minutes.”
Hagi arrived at Rangers in January, initially on loan from Genk, but impressed Steven Gerrard enough to win a permanent £3million switch to the Premiership.
The midfielder is looking to put down roots in the game after a nomadic couple of seasons when he has played in Italy and Belgium, as well as his homeland.
However, he insists he has found a home from home at Ibrox under the Liverpool icon and is looking forward to proving his worth in the months ahead.
Hagi added: “I was so happy to get the deal done. Everything was completed fast and Rangers were my first option.
“Rangers are such a huge club, with the history and the stadium, as well as the people who work here. “They have everything that made me want to be here – the hunger for winning trophies, the mentality we live in every day and the trust the gaffer and Ross Wilson showed in me. “My loan spell really helped introduce me into a new league, totally different to the one I played in before. I can say it was easy because I was helped from all points of view. Whenever I needed something, whenever I missed something, I always had someone who helped me. All the information I needed before games or before training I always had it. Besides that the people who work here, my team-mates, medical and coaching staff, have been great and it helped me integrate really fast.
“Now it will be much better for me and hopefully the season goes until the end and we can finish everything we started.
“It’s definitely important to feel settled. This is what I looked for, a place I can feel really good – and not only on the pitch but off it as well.
“Until now, I’ve been really happy with what I’m doing here and the hunger and mentality of the team suits me. It’s a really good environment for me to be in.”
Rangers haven’t kicked a ball in domestic football since their 1-0 win at Ross County on March 8, the weekend before they were due to entertain Celtic at Ibrox.
Hagi, in line with his foreign team-mates, returned home to spend lockdown with his family but Rangers have been back in training for 10 days as they build towards that August start.
Pre-season friendlies are likely to be thinner on the ground and injuries could bite after such a long absence from competitive sport but Hagi is adamant they are well enough resourced to emerge unharmed in the weeks ahead.
He said: “It was tough when everything was suspended just a day before the Old Firm match but that is life, that is football.
“It’s good everyone has passed this period. Mentally, we’re all really good. It’s five or six weeks until we start so we have time to get fit but the most important thing right now is just to stay clear of injury. “It’s a case of trying to get through all of preseason and follow the rules in the process. We have everything we need at Rangers to be 100 per cent physically and mentally ready. I can’t wait until everything is back to normal and we can get back to playing football again.”