Any Rangers fan who had listened to Brian Laudrup’s warning wouldn’t have been too surprised by Abdallah Sima’s man of the match display as he helped bring Steven Gerrard’s side’s 12-game unbeaten run to a shuddering halt as Slavia Prague eliminated the Ibrox side from the Europa League at the last-16 stage.
Sima produced a performance that even Light Blues legend Laudrup himself would have been proud of in his Rangers heyday. The Great Dane had picked out the then teenage star as the main danger as he previewed the second leg of the Euro tie after a 1-1 draw in the Czech capital. Laudrup had watched Sima shine in the previous round when the Senegalese put the seal on a 2-0 win over Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City at the King Power Stadium to set up a tie with Rangers.
"I was working for Danish television when Slavia beat Leicester City 2-0 at the King Power Stadium last month after a goalless first-leg draw in Prague,” wrote Laudrup in his column for the Daily Mail at the time. “They have players who can do real damage in the likes of Abdallah Sima and Nicolae Stanciu. Sima, in particular, is a wonderful player. He is only 19 years of age, but is very good in the air and can take players on.He's quick and is scoring for fun in the Czech league. He maybe wasn't at his best in the first leg but if he reaches top form, it's going to be a tough night for Gerrard's defence.”
