Jose Mourinho offered a backhanded compliment to a Rangers player after his Fenerbahce side suffered a disappointing defeat against the Scottish team. Rangers once again demonstrated their strength in the Europa League with an impressive 3-1 victory over the Turkish giants. Cyriel Dessers played a pivotal role in the win, scoring a goal and having other efforts ruled out for narrow offsides, leaving Rangers with the slight regret that they could have secured an even bigger margin of victory. The result sets them up well for the return leg at Ibrox next week, giving them a full week to prepare. Mourinho, known for his fiery press conferences, couldn’t resist making a few pointed remarks, including a backhanded compliment aimed at one Rangers player. Mourinho’s less-than-flattering assessment of Rangers:

He initially praised Dessers as the best player in the world for his impact on Fenerbahce’s defense, only to immediately backtrack and clarify that he clearly isn’t, citing his team’s “unbelievable errors.” Mourinho told the Rangers Review: “Dessers is a good player. But today he looked like the best player in the world, but he is not. “I know that Butland makes three fantastic saves. I know that there is, I think, a penalty, but to speak about the referee after this performance, I don’t think it’s ethical. Our performance was bad overall. The chances we had to score, we didn’t. The dynamic in midfield was not good. We lost lots of duels. Our passing was not fast. “Defensively, we made incredible mistakes. They deserve the result. But, for me, it’s not over. I know it’s 3-1, so we are losing 3-1 when the game starts [next week], but it’s not over.” Ferguson’s perspective:

Interim Rangers boss Barry Ferguson, meanwhile, was quick to commend his players for their performance away from home. He told Rangers TV: “I am big on character, if you want to play at a club like Rangers you need to get results like this every time you play. “I know that is not going to happen all of the time, but if you have a wee bump you need to react in the right manner. I thought to a man tonight, even the guys that came off the bench, you have to give them credit. Even the boys on the bench kept supporting. It is important to me there is a real togetherness, and they certainly showed that on the pitch. “It was a great result and a great performance, but we also know that it is only half-time in the tie. We’ll come back in, and we’ll refocus for the game next Thursday. They have got a top manager, and I expect Fenerbahce to be a different team next week. It is always important to get off to a good start and I think that is what we did, we spoke about it before the game, when you come to places like this it is intimidating at times but I also said go and enjoy these kinds of atmospheres this is what playing football is all about. “They obviously got the equaliser, we didn’t let our heads go down which is important and then I thought we finished the first-half strong. In the second-half I thought again we created a number of chances, obviously we had the two goals disallowed but it is easy again to feel sorry for yourself but one thing about the boys now they are starting to learn they can’t be that way at Rangers.”