Moussa Dembele sends big warning to Rangers ahead of Thursday
Moussa Dembele has warned Rangers that Lyon will be doing everything they can to win, despite the game having little resting on it.
The former Celtic man wants to see the Ligue 1 side bounce back from their draw against Bordeaux at the weekend.
Lyon have won the group comfortably and are looking to go through with maximum points, while the Gers are through as the second-placed team.
However, Dembele doesn’t sound as if he will be taking the game lightly.
As quoted by the Daily Record, he said: “There was a lot of frustration after Bordeaux, but there is nothing better than a European match for us to get moving in the right direction.
“Obviously, we want to win all the matches, even if we know we’ve already qualified.
“At Olympique Lyonnais, there is no match without stakes – we will do everything to win.”
Lyon not going to just roll over.
If Dembele’s words are anything to go off, the Ligue 1 side won’t be rolling over and not even trying.
Winning every game in the group would be some achievement, so you could imagine that Lyon will be motivated by that.
However, Dembele has a ridiculous goalscoring record against the Gers and has smashed in seven goals in just nine games [transfermarkt].
Therefore, you would imagine that he would want to keep that run going and help his team to a big win.
Certainly, this is Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s toughest test on paper since he replaced Steven Gerrard as the Bears’ boss.
However, he is unlikely to play a full-strength team, so it would probably be harsh to judge him if they do lose this match.
Either way, it should actually be a good game, and hopefully, both teams play with a little bit of freedom, given that the game doesn’t actually mean that much.
In other Rangers news, one Gers man has been ruled out of the Lyon game.