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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Robbie Copeland

Rangers warned Red Star will be 'twice the team' at Marakana as Dejan Stankovic bullish over comeback chances

Dejan Stankovic has warned Rangers his Red Star players are twice as good at home at the Marakana.

And he insists a Europa League fightback is "not impossible" despite his team trailing 3-0.

Gio van Bronckhorst and his team picked up a convincing win in Glasgow as James Tavernier, Alfredo Morelos and Leon Balogun all struck in front of a raucous home crowd.

But Red Star had THREE goals chopped off and saw a penalty saved and that was enough to give boss Stankovic some confidence going into the second leg.

Especially with the wind of the home support beneath their sails.

He said at his pre-match press conference: "This stadium makes the players of Zvezda twice as strong as usual, that adrenaline, that roar that comes from the stands, they are the same ones who were in Glasgow.

"Marakana will not scare the Rangers, because they are used to such an atmosphere, but they will have two times stronger rival than in Glasgow."

He also reckons his team weren't as bad in Glasgow as the first leg scoreline suggested.

Stankovic claims the defeat was down to some "mistakes" from his players, and hopes Rangers' luck will turn in Serbia.

He added: "It should be emphasised how the team feels, physically and mentally prepared. We are good, we are growing from game to game and it is not impossible. We will come out quite strong, we will look to put maximum pressure on Rangers.

"As we made a mistake, I hope it will happen to them tomorrow, we will do everything to put them under pressure

"It is not impossible, which makes me happy. Watching the game from Glasgow, gives me confidence and confidence that we can surprise.

"If a good result is achieved, we are all heroes, it doesn't matter who the scorer is, it is important that the team achieves a result. It is one of those games that can take us all to heaven, to write history.

"We will do our best, chemistry among players is a great precondition for the game to be played, that's where it all starts, we have the foundations."

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