RB LEIPZIG keeper Peter Gulacsi came through the Liverpool system a few years ahead of Rangers winger Ryan Kent and has followed the Ibrox winger's career with interest. And he's pinpointed Kent as the danger man for the Europa League semi-final.
Rangers travel to Germany next week for the first leg of the last four clash in Saxony with the return at Ibrox. But although RB Leipzig made it through to the German Cup Final this week thanks to an injury time winner against Union Berlin, they were a long, long way from their best.
Domenico Tedesco's team looked tired, created very little and gave Union Berlin plenty of chances. The visitors took the lead and missed a sitter to go two goals up before Leipzig levelled with a controversial VAR penalty and sub Emil Forsberg won it for them in injury time. They will now play Freiburg in the DFB Pokal final and will attempt to win their first ever trophy.
Hungarian international keeper Gulacsi, 31, spent six years at Liverpool and eventually arrived at RB Leipzig after a couple of seasons at fellow franchise club Red Bull Salzburg.
Kent was on Liverpool's books since he was seven years of age and was making waves in their famous Academy when Gulacsi was challenging Pepe Reina for the Anfield No.1 spot. Kent eventually signed for Rangers permanently and also had a spell on loan in the Bundesliga with Freiburg too.
And Gulacsi knows all about the 25-year-old key Rangers wide man, after watching him star in their famous Round of 32 win against fellow Bundesliga high-fliers Borussia Dortmund.
He said: "Ryan Kent was at Liverpool and so was I, although I didn't play with him. He came into the reserves after I left although he was at the club when I was there.
"But of course, I know all about him because even though it's been a few years since I left Liverpool, I still follow them very closely - and I have watched Ryan's career.
"I think he made a good move to go to Scotland and it's amazing what he's done because he is one of Rangers' most important players.
"We know he is one of the players we have to stop.
"But Rangers are full of really good players. It's not just Ryan Kent we have to watch, they have a lot of quality through the team. But I would point out that we have some very good players too.
"We have watched Rangers' games against Borussia Dortmund and Ryan was very important for them in those games and we watched the matches against Braga in the quarter finals also.
"They played a very effective game in all of those matches.
"Rangers are strong in defence and are quick when they counter-attack. Obviously, Rangers are also coached well because you don't get to this stage of the competition unless you are. Clearly, Rangers are not going to be an easy team to play against.
"But we are in the semi-finals and when you get to this stage, your aim is to get to the finals.
"Listen, I am under no illusions that we are about to face two really, really tough games, especially because the second leg is in Glasgow and everyone knows about the atmosphere there.
"We haven't properly thought about Ibrox yet because we are focussing on the first game in Leipzig and our weekend game also against Union Berlin again. Rangers will be hard to beat, but we've come this far and we want to make the final."
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