Rangers star Joe Aribo cracks Europa League TOTW after excelling as a false 9

Published: April 29, 2022

Joe Aribo has been included in Whoscored.com's Europa League Team of the Week despite Rangers' 1-0 loss to RB Leipzig on Thursday night.

The Nigeria international was on parade at the Red Bull Arena for 83 minutes before making way for Scott Arfield.

Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst opted to deploy Aribo as a false 9, with his two strikers Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe not available for selection due to injuries.

In a 4-4-2 formation, Aribo was one of the two central midfielders in the Europa League Team of the Week, slightly different from the role he played against the Bundesliga side.

The Rangers number 17 amassed a joint game-high three aerial duels won, a team-best 57 touches, and made two key passes, level with Borna Barisic.

Despite being tasked with an offensive role, the versatile midfielder was industrious in the defensive aspect of his game, registering a game-high five interceptions, one less than the entire RB Leipzig team combined.

Aribo, who was rated at 7.2 by the football statistics website, made two tackles, won two fouls for his team while giving away one.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : uefa.com

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