'Rangers a large cube of ice in Porto's whisky' - Portuguese papers react to Porto draw with Steven Gerrard's side

Porto were expected to beat Rangers on Thursday night. That was the view of pundits in Portugal. But how did they react to the draw?

Popular sports paper A Bola best summed up the feeling in Portugal's second city.

"FC Porto drew at home on Thursday with the Scottish Rangers somewhat surprisingly given the difference in quality between the two teams," they wrote.

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"In the first half this competitive gap was evident and FC Porto scored in a great goal by Luis Díaz...but less so (in the second half), with the opponent collecting some good opportunities and putting Agustin Marchesin to the test.

Rangers earned a deserved draw in Porto. Picture: SNSRangers earned a deserved draw in Porto. Picture: SNS
Rangers earned a deserved draw in Porto. Picture: SNS

In the last ten minutes, with Rangers satisfied with the result, the Portuguese team had some good, even excellent opportunities to score again, but failed; and the disappointing draw penalises the dragon's lack of effectiveness and also some uneasiness."

It also referenced the reaction of the 31,000-strong crowd.

"The patience of the fans was exhausted by FC Porto's many wrong passes

"The players went around the field at the end to thank the fans for their support and the reaction from the stands was again a mix of cheers and whistles."

Correio da Manha added: "The time of the game helps to explain a little the weak turnout at Estádio do Dragao. FC Porto's performance at certain times of Thursday's meeting was signalled in the stands by a few whistles."

Even though there was disappointment regarding Porto's performance and the subsequent result, Publico were positive in their assessment of Steven Gerrard's side.

"In recent matches, the former English international has put his team at 4-3-2-1. The difference is that this time a pair of young Englishmen (Kent and Barker) came into direct support of Morelos.

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"Strangely, after the break the game changed. In their traditional Scottish fighting spirit, the Rangers responded. Revealing more team and showing more attitude, Rangers took control of the ball and started playing in midfield.

"(Rangers) were superior in the second half. The Argentine goalkeeper prevented the result being even worse for FC Porto."

Publico added: "Domestically things are going well - eight straight wins - but when the showcase is European, FC Porto are still very weak.

"Porto were inconsequential and apathetic and only in the last ten minutes created danger against the Scottish goal."

Accessible Rangers

Tribuna Expresso thanked Marchesin "for the draw at home against the powerful Rangers FC".

Writer Lidia Paralta Gomes used whisky and an analogy that ice cubes ruin the drink to describe the game and performances of either side.

"FC Porto did not go beyond a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against an accessible Rangers," she wrote.

"(They) let Rangers put a very large ice cube in their whiskey, allowing an unexpected draw against Scots who, despite being trained by one of the best midfielders the game has ever seen, have obvious weaknesses that the dragons could and should have taken advantage of to win.

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"They did not because FC Porto was rarely a fast team, an issue that continues to afflict Sérgio Conceição's team

"In the end, disappointment, a missed opportunity in a group which will be very tight and there is no room for more ice stones in whiskey glasses."

Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos came in for praise.

On publication wrote: "He almost always played alone in front of the Scots attack, but made a doormat of Pepe and Marcano. At 23, Morelos is in his third season at Rangers, but it will be difficult for the Glasgow side to hold on to the Colombian much longer. With the goal at Dragao, Morelos already leads 10 in the Europa League this season: eight in qualifying and two in the group stage."

The goalscorer for the home side and fellow Colombian said of Morelos: "A lot of quality, very strong and imposing, made a great game."

Porto manager Sergio Conceicao said: "We had some individual mistakes that penalised us, the opponent created one or two situations but we gave it to him. We knew it was a competitive, aggressive team that was going to be a tough game, but we wanted to win this game."

Pepe added: "Rangers also have very good players, very strong in the transition."