No tackles and most tackles: Surprise stats of Rangers' 4-2 win over Borussia Dortmund

Candidates are plentiful for Rangers’ man of the match in Germany for their emphatic 4-2 UEFA Europa League win over Borussia Dortmund.

Alfredo Morelos’ goals, Ryan Kent’s direct dribbling, Ryan Jack and John Lundstram’s midfield control or Calvin Bassey’s coming of age at the heart of the defence. They’re all options, but it’s difficult to rule any of their team-mates out as well from an all-round excellent team performance.

No single area of the pitch outshone any other as Rangers out-fought and out-played their illustrious hosts all across the Westenfalenstadion pitch and recorded a momentous result on a memorable night.

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A delve into the player statistics from the match though, casts a slightly different light on the stand-out features of Rangers team.

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How rampant Rangers ran riot in Dortmund to record one of their greatest ever aw...

Midfield muscle

The partnership of John Lundstram and Ryan Jack was, in some quarters, a surprising selection keeping Glen Kamara out of the starting line-up, but their double-pivot holding role in the 4-2-3-1 worked a treat for Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Lundstram in particular looks revitalised under the Dutchman.

The pair were pivotal in breaking up and breaking down Dortmund’s play in the middle of the park and dominated like destructive bash brothers to build a platform for Rangers to go forward – attacks which they too joined in with as Lundstram proved with the wonderful third.

Rangers' John Lundstram, left, celebrates with the team after a goal during the Europa League Play-off, 1st leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Rangers in Dortmund, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Rangers' John Lundstram, left, celebrates with the team after a goal during the Europa League Play-off, 1st leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Rangers in Dortmund, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Rangers' John Lundstram, left, celebrates with the team after a goal during the Europa League Play-off, 1st leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Rangers in Dortmund, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The Englishman tops the charts for Rangers’ passing on the night with an 88per cent success rate – yet for all his powerful dominance the former Sheffield United man is not credited with a single tackle amongst the player stats of sofascore and whoscored.com. A fierce 50-50 on the edge of the Rangers penalty area in the second half with Jude Bellingham might disagree with that.

Surprisingly, Ryan Kent tops the Rangers chart with four successful tackles, while also Borna Barisic leads the way with five interceptions.

Rangers on the run

Rangers' Alfredo Morelos, sees his side's 4th goal beat Dortmund's goalkeeper Gregor Kobel during the Europa League Play-off, 1st leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Rangers in Dortmund, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Rangers' Alfredo Morelos, sees his side's 4th goal beat Dortmund's goalkeeper Gregor Kobel during the Europa League Play-off, 1st leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Rangers in Dortmund, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Rangers' Alfredo Morelos, sees his side's 4th goal beat Dortmund's goalkeeper Gregor Kobel during the Europa League Play-off, 1st leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Rangers in Dortmund, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Kent’s direct dribbling had the home side’s defence bamboozled – particularly for Lundstram’s 49th minute strike.

However even the tricky winger was outdone by Alfredo Morelos’ work in the channels, and the Colombian is credited with more dribbles than Kent – 5-4 with one run attempt more than the Englishman too.

The pair were closely matched under many metrics – Morelos edges the goals but Kent’s key passing trumps the lot with three during the 90 minutes, and he was rated 8.47 on WhoScored.com to Morelos’ 8.34, while sofascore swapped the pair with Morelos 7.8 and Kent 7.7.

Rangers pressure

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Borussia Dortmund manager Marco Rose also claimed his side controlled the game, but just weren’t clinical enough. He may well have a point on possession stats but which players were in possession is a reflection of the play.

The most touches in the match were made by both Dortmund centre-backs Mats Hummels and Axel Zagadou with 123 and 118 each. Late goalscorer, right-back Raphael Guerrerro registered 91 – almost all within his own defensive half or midfield. Jude Bellingham’s 84 were a little more advanced and almost matched Rangers’ highest – James Tavernier with 86 whose heatmap shows significant strides down the right wing.

Dortmund’s 845 touches to Rangers’ 564 and 65% possession superiority tells one story, but the scoreline suggests another.

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