On Thursday the 24th of February Borussia Dortmund make the trip to Ibrox Stadium to face Glasgow Rangers in the second leg of their Europa League knockout round playoff tie.
This is going to be an intriguing game to watch as Borussia Dortmund are chasing a 2 goal deficit from the first leg in Germany.
⚽️ GOAL OF THE DAY: Ronald De Boer v Aberdeen🏡 @RdBoer1970 will return to Ibrox for our Weekend of Legends in March:https://t.co/Eg1p7BpRQJ pic.twitter.com/i5DQanWawf— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) February 21, 2022
⚽️ GOAL OF THE DAY: Ronald De Boer v Aberdeen🏡 @RdBoer1970 will return to Ibrox for our Weekend of Legends in March:https://t.co/Eg1p7BpRQJ pic.twitter.com/i5DQanWawf
Rangers will be delighted to come into this second leg holding a 4-2 lead from the first leg last week. It was one of the biggest shocks in European club football this season and the Scottish club were 2-0 up at half-time.
It got even better at the beginning of the second half as Rangers added to their lead and despite conceding 2 goals themselves, they added a fourth to record a remarkable victory.
Following that match, Rangers travelled to Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership and were held to a 1-1 draw. Rangers scored the equalising goal with 14 minutes remaining of the game and that result means they fell 3 points behind Celtic in the title race.
However, Rangers are currently on a run of 5 matches without defeat and they have lost only 1 of their 19 most recent games in all competitions. Trends show Rangers are undefeated in 17 of their last 20 Europa League games but have lost 2 of their last 5 at home against Sparta Prague and Lyon.
Borussia Dortmund travel to Scotland on the back of a resounding 6-0 home win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the German Bundesliga on the weekend.
It was as if the players knew they owed the fans a performance following the loss to Rangers in the Europa League and they delivered, with 4 of the 6 goals coming the second half.
That result means Borussia Dortmund have won 3 of their last 6 matches in all competitions, with the victories coming against Hoffenheim, Union Berlin, and Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga. There have also been 3 defeats, one in the league and two in cup competitions.
Trends show Borussia Dortmund have failed to win any of their 4 most recent Europa League fixtures but 3 of those 4 games came in 2018.
You must go back to March 2018 to find the last time Borussia Dortmund played away in the Europa League and they were held to a 0-0 draw in Austria against RB Salzburg.
Looking ahead to the team news and Rangers have doubts over the fitness of Aaron Ramsey, Leon Balogun, and Ianis Hagi. They could start with the same XI from the first leg.
Borussia Dortmund are without Dan-Axel Zagadou, Mateu Morey, Manuel Akanji, and Giovanni Reyna due to injury. They also have doubts over the fitness of Thomas Meunier, Marcel Schmelzer, and Erling Haaland.
Borussia Dortmund have little choice but to attack in this game and that should mean we see plenty of chances at both ends of the pitch.
The Germans are surely going to perform better than the first leg and could come away with a 1 goal victory but that will not be enough to stop Rangers progressing in the competition.