Leon Balogun Confirms Cheekbone Fracture
Super Eagles and Rangers defender, Leon Balogun, has confirmed he fractured his cheekbone during Rangers’ 2-0 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.
The 36-year-old was forced off in the 59th minute after accidentally clashing heads with teammate John Souttar at the San Mames Stadium. After the game, Balogun revealed it was not the first time he had suffered this type of injury.
“I’ve fractured my cheekbone again – I think this is the fourth time in my career,” Balogun told BBC Sport. “I knew it straight away and I knew I had to come off.
“I asked the doctor if I could stay on, but the pain usually gets worse after five or ten minutes and then it’s really not nice.
“We’ll have to see how bad it is, but I might need a small surgery and a few days’ rest. Hopefully, I can return with a mask.”
With just five league games remaining this season, Balogun could be out for the rest of the campaign.
Reflecting on Rangers’ performance, the experienced centre-back admitted the team fell short of expectations.
“You have to be honest – we didn’t show enough quality to really threaten them,” he said.
“We came here with higher expectations for ourselves, but we didn’t live up to them. I know it’s not what the fans and people back home want to hear, but sometimes you have to accept when the better team wins. And today, Bilbao were the better team.”
Balogun has made 26 appearances for Rangers this season, more than he managed in the previous campaign.
Rangers are now out of Europe and only have the Scottish Premiership to focus on. They sit second on the table, 13 points clear of third-place Hibernian but trail rivals Celtic by 15 points.
