Ianis Hagi’s dad jumps to son’s defence again after Rangers’ Europa League exit
GHEORGHE HAGI has defended his son Ianis' performance for Rangers after he was hooked at half-time of their Europa League defeat at Athletic Bilbao.
The Romanian international was withdrawn at the interval as the Light Blues eventually went out at the quarter-finals stage of the competition following a 2-0 defeat in Spain.
But Hagi senior - who famously played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain - insisted his son played well for the 45 minutes on the pitch.
Hagi is out of contract at Rangers at the end of the season and faces an uncertain future at Ibrox.
His father said: "Ianis played 45 minutes in the second leg in Spain.
"Tactically, from my point of view, he did what was needed and what was asked of him...everything.
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"This was a match in Europe at a very high level. I thought he did well."
Hagi junior said after the game that the ref's failure to award them a penalty for a shirt tug on Cyriel Dessers made the difference.
He said: "We are obviously disappointed, angry, probably because we could have played better.
"I think Bilbao for 90 minutes were better than us, but that doesn't take away the incident of the penalty, right?"
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While the younger Hagi's future at Ibrox is up in the air, over the last week he moved to quell any rumours that he had personally asked to leave Rangers.
He did admit that he's not sure what's in store for him in this summer but he slammed what he called "fake news" reports that suggested he was itching for a way out.
The midfielder said prior to the game against Bilbao: "I understand, from my perspective my future is up in the air with the contract coming down at the end of the season.
"But what I cannot accept are things that are put out, words that I have not said ever.
"I just wanted to make that clear because I never said I wanted to leave Rangers.
"I am happy to be here and love this football club.
“I will do anything for this football club.
"For me, it's focusing on Thursday. It's so important for us to give something back to the fans.
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"It's all about that.
"We want to get into the next round and finish the season on a high."
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