Glasgow Rangers kicked off the Russell Martin era with a big result on Tuesday night in the Champions League at Ibrox, as they beat Panathinaikos 2-0.
Goals from Findlay Curtis and Djedi Gassama in the second half of the match, aided by a red card for the away side, secured the victory for the Light Blues, who now take a two-goal advantage over to Greece next week.
Whilst it was not a perfect performance from the Scottish Premiership giants, as they needed goalkeeper Jack Butland to pull off a number of impressive stops, there cannot be too many complaints about a 2-0 win in a European match.
Especially when you consider that the likes of Gassama, Cyriel Dessers, and Hamza Igamane were resigned to the bench and Thelo Aasgaard was missing through injury.
Due to various fitness issues, Martin opted to go with Brazilian centre-forward Danilo through the middle as the starting number nine against Panathinaikos.
He failed to register a goal or an assist in his 74 minutes on the pitch, but did not have a single ‘big chance’ in front of goal, and there could be more to come from the striker this season.
What Danilo needs to be successful at Rangers
Possibly the biggest hurdle the 26-year-old marksman needs to jump over to be successful at Rangers is avoiding injuries, as he has been absent for far too many matches since his move to the club in 2023.
The Light Blues reportedly paid a fee of up to £6m to sign the attacker from Dutch giants Feyenoord two years ago, but the clash with Panathinaikos was only his 49th appearance in all competitions.
| Danilo’s injury history | #1 | #2 | #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of injury | Broken cheekbone | Knee injury | Knee injury |
| Date of injury | September 2023 | December 2023 | September 2024 |
| Return date | October 2023 | May 2024 | November 2024 |
| Days out | 43 | 171 | 65 |
| Matches missed | 9 | 32 | 12 |
| Stats via Transfermarkt | |||
As you can see in the table above, Danilo has missed 53 games through injury since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, with two knee injuries and one broken cheekbone, which led to him having to wear a protective face mask.
The Rangers number 99 has showcased his quality when he has been available, as rare as that has been, though, with a return of 12 goals and nine assists in his 49 appearances.
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