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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
David McCarthy

Erling Haaland's Rangers absence draws pointed reminder from Marco Rose as Dortmund boss defiant over injury blow

Borussia Dortmund coach Marco Rose shrugged off the loss of his main goal threat Erling Haaland at Ibrox and insisted that the German giants have scored plenty without their Norwegian superstar this season.

Rose's Bundesliga big guns are trying to retrieve a two-goal deficit from the first leg of their Europa League play-off with Rangers and believe the tie is salvageable - even without Haaland.

The Westfalen boss said: "Erling Haaland has been missing for half a season so far and we have still scored a lot of goals. Erling is still quite a bit away from being 100 per cent. He’s doing what he can to get back, but we have to be careful and make sure he’s not in pain anymore.

"We are going to need balance, for sure, and score at least two goals.

"We need to be focused and concentrated and defend against Rangers’ strengths. We have also got to find better solutions going forward and we have got to show more presence offensively.

"The situation is clear and we need to score two goals. We know that but we are trying not to think too much about it. We know we have to keep the balance between attacking and defending but we need to score two goals so of course we need to attack."

While Rose is without his main striker, the German coach is well aware of the threat posed by Rangers' top attacker Alfredo Morelos.

He added: "He’s a good player. He’s physically strong and knows how to use his body. He knows where the goal is, he has good movement and he is brave.

“He is not so tall but he is very brave and he was very difficult for our defenders to defend last week.

“I like his style and his mentality and he is scoring. We saw it in the league, we had prepared for these games, and I hope on Thursday he will not have such a good day."

Rose and his captain, German international midfielder Marco Reus know that Ibrox will be a bear pit with a 50,000 capacity crowd roaring on the Scots - but both insist Dortmund will relish the atmosphere as they are still playing in front of restricted attendances at home.

Rose said: "Of course we are looking forward to playing in front of a full stadium.

"We have not had that experience in Germany for a while given the restrictions.

"But we are looking forward to it because that’s what football is all about. I don’t think it’s an issue for our players because even our youngest, Jude Bellingham, is an England international player.

"They all have experience. But it’s going to be a special game and we have to deal with the atmosphere. It’s going to push Rangers and we have to try and take something positive from it ourselves.

"If we manage to do that we can win tomorrow.

"Of course we analysed the first leg and Rangers were highly effective. They scored goals of good standard and we also had individual mistakes and were inconsequential in attack. That has got to change and we have got to win."

(AFP via Getty Images)

Reus added: "We are all motivated and we know it's a do or die game. We know what we've got to do.

"Of course we have pressure but there are worse things than pressure. We are focused and concentrated and motivated.

"It really wasn't our day last week at home versus Rangers but I am certain we will show a different face tomorrow."

"We are going to play in front of 50,000 people tomorrow. It's going to be a great atmosphere and we are looking forward to it. It is motivating us. Sadly it has been a while since we've got to play in front of such a huge crowd. We hope we can keep them a bit quiet with our performance.

"Rangers didn't surprise us (last week). What surprised us was our performance. We have got to play a lot better tomorrow, got to play our game and if we do that and show what we are capable of, then we can win."

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