Rangers ace Leon Balogun not complaining at injury update on ‘one of the best’
Rangers are on the cusp of one of their greatest results if they can beat Borussia Dortmund again in the Europa League tomorrow to advance to the next round.
They stunned the Bundesliga giants at Signal Iduna Park last week, leaving Germany 4-2 ahead in the two-legged tie with Ibrox hosting the return leg tomorrow.
A big help for the Light Blues’ defence was the absence of monsterous striker Erling Haaland who has been suffering from a hip injury.
The Norwegian has been ruled out of the return leg as well and Leon Balogun won’t complain at not having to face him tomorrow evening.
“I think [Haaland] is one of the best at the moment,” Balogun said, as quoted by the Scottish Daily Express.
“From that perspective, it’s a sad thing but if you look at what he means to Dortmund – it’s a disadvantage to them.
“It’s going to weaken them upfront a little bit but then again they’ve got enough to compensate with the same level.
“So it is mixed feelings, I’m definitely not going to complain about that though.”
Massive let off
Even an 80% fit Haaland would cause huge problems for the Rangers defence and to not have him is going to really hamper Marco Rose’s side.
Balogun and his fellow defenders though have to remain focused and not let the lack of the 21-year-old distract them from the job they have to do.
The Nigerian rightly points out the talent still at Rose’s disposal and they have already proven their ability to rip teams apart as they put six past Borussia Monchengladbach at the weekend.
Donyell Malen is a super-talented teenager in his own right and with Marco Reus creating his chances, he is bound to get one or two opportunities to fire beyond Allan McGregor if the defence lapses in concentration.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst has to get his side fully focused on the job in hand because, given the chance, Dortmund will rip this tie away from their grasp in the blink of an eye.
In other Rangers news, they could pocket a whopping seven-figure sum if they beat Dortmund and advance to the next round.