Scott Arfield blown away by Connor Barron in Rangers win v Fenerbahce | OneFootball

Rangers stunned Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce after beating the Turkish giants in Istanbul away from Ibrox on Thursday night in the Europa League.

The Gers earned a 3-1 win on the night in the round of 16 first-leg, and they will be confident of producing another similar performance when the two sides meet again next week in the second leg at Ibrox.

Cyriel Dessers was absolutely unplayable at times, and Vaclav Cerny scored twice to give Rangers a precious two-goal lead.

There were other top performers, too, including John Souttar, Leon Balogun, Jack Butland, and Nico Raskin. But one player who has surprised everyone was Connor Barron.

After the defeat against Motherwell, Barry Ferguson had to make some changes to the squad against Fenerbahce, and he brought Barron back into the side.

The 22-year-old was drafted in from the cold, and he repaid the faith of his manager. His last appearance for the Bears was against Manchester United in the Europa League.

Scott Arfield said on BBC Radio Scotland that Barron deserves a “special mention”, and hailed him as “phenomenal”.

The former Rangers midfielder said: “A special mention to Connor Barron, his work rate is absolutely phenomenal. A phenomenal performance and they are in the driving seat now.”

Barron made five clearances and one interception during the match. Ferguson will be pleased with the effort and hopefully will include him in the return leg next week.

Arfield added that he fancies Rangers to go through to the next round. Ferguson was spot-on in terms of tactics, and his team outfought their opponent.

It baffles everyone how Rangers manage to produce such a high level of performance in Europe and then fail to replicate that in the domestic competitions.

The tie is far from over, but Rangers hold all the aces. If they progress, the Gers would face the winners of the tie between Roma and Athletic Bilbao.