After Borussia Dortmund’s embarrassing and worrying 4-2 home defeat in the Europa League playoff first leg against Rangers from Glasgow, the mood around BVB was in the basement. A few days before the second leg in Scotland (Thursday, 9:00 p.m. LIVE on RTL) there is a small glimmer of hope that the black and yellow could still make it into the round of 16. This is not only due to his own result from the weekend.
Borussia Dortmund let off a lot of steam against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday. Marco Reus and Co. shot the foals out of their own stadium 6-0 and were able to show a first reparation for the defeat in the Europa League.
Due to the many fluctuations in performance this season, however, not all BVB fans are likely to be convinced that head coach Marco Rose’s team will also win in Scotland. Due to the first leg, Borussia is going into the race with a two-goal mortgage.
Nevertheless, the six goals against Gladbach should be a small glimmer of hope and show that goals are possible even without top striker Erling Haaland.
Rangers blunder before BVB second leg in the domestic league
Another circumstance that benefits Dortmund: Since this season, the away goals rule no longer applies, so BVB “only” needs a win with a two-goal difference to force an extra time.
Ultimately, a look at Rangers’ most recent league game should be cause for optimism. The Glasgow team coached by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who just a few days earlier burned off fireworks in Dortmund and deservedly won, now struggled to draw 1-1 (0-1) at Dundee United in the domestic Premiership.
Joe Aribo (76th) ultimately found the answer to Ross Graham’s lead (29th). In terms of personnel, van Bronckhorst had, with one exception, backed the winning eleven, only defender Borna Barisic moved into the starting line-up for Filip Helander.
In the league, city rivals Celtic, who beat Dundee FC 3-2, are now three points ahead.