Rangers to pull of a famous win at Ibrox
Thursday night sees Rangers hold a 4-2 advantage over German giants Borussia Dortmund. Their performance at the Westfalenstadion was nothing short of magnificent. Now, they have to hold that advantage, or even extend it in front of a packed home crowd.
Gers German win was no flash in the pan
While Rangers have now slipped to three points behind Championship rivals Celtic, their focus seems to be firmly on a European run this campaign.
Last three European results:
Rangers 2-0 Sparta Prague (25.11.21)
Lyon 1-1 Rangers (09.12.21)
Dortmund 2-4 Rangers (17.02.22)
In Dortmund, Rangers looked so assured and they took full advantage of the hosts' shoddy defending and error-prone backline. Particularly, tricky winger Ryan Kent was the one who tore Dortmund apart in the reverse fixture.
A combination of his trickery and the lethal finishing of Alfredo Morelos up top should still be a major concern to the Bundesliga side. Despite their somewhat underwhelming 1-1 draw with Dundee United at the weekend, Rangers are firmly in the ascendency come Thursday.
Dortmund on the ropes
Favourites for the Europa League. Bayern giving them every opportunity to capitalise on a rare Bavarian slip up. But Dortmund still haven't pieced it together this season.
Last three European results:
Sporting 3-1 Dortmund (24.11.21)
Dortmund 5-0 Besiktas (07.12.21)
Dortmund 2-4 Rangers (17.02.22)
Marco Rose hasn't quite solved Dortmund's defensive issues yet, but going forwards they still look like a force to be reckoned with. 6-0 was the scoreline in their win on Sunday against Monchengladbach, their biggest win since 2018.
But it's a mountain to climb come Thursday, and Rangers really took the game to them last time out. Away from home, with their European hopes on the line and potentially without star man Erling Haaland, Dortmund could be saying auf wiedersehen to the Europa League.
Some interesting trivia:
- Since 2009/10, only one side has ever won the first leg of a knockout tie by 2+ goals away from home and then not progressed.
- Dortmund have lost four of their seven away matches against Scottish sides in European competition.
- One goal in this game for Rangers would make them the first side to score 5+ goals against Dortmund across a two-legged European knockout tie since Monaco did in the 2016/17 season.
The Verdict:
This is set up to be a European clash for the ages. Ibrox will be absolutely rocking, and with already a somewhat comfortable advantage, I can see Rangers feeding off this and taking the game to an inconsistent Dortmund outfit.
That's why I'm going with Rangers To Win with bet365.
