Alfredo Morelos praised by Dortmund boss as Rangers striker 'very difficult to defend against'

Marco Rose has revealed his admiration for Alfredo Morelos but admits Borussia Dortmund have no option but to take Thursday night's Europa League tie to Rangers.

The Scottish champions stunned the Bundesliga giants with a 4-2 win in the first leg of the knockout round play-off in Germany last week.

Dortmund boss Rose, who will again be without his star striker Erling Haaland, can expect a capacity crowd of around 50,000 at Ibrox in the second leg and knows his side will have to go for goals.

He said: "The situation is clear and we need to score two goals.

Alfredo Morelos celebrates his second goal for Rangers during the 4-2 win over Borussia Dortmund in Germany. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

"We know that but we are trying not to think too much about it.

"We know we have to keep the balance between attacking and defending but we need to score two goals so of course we need to attack.

"Of course we are looking forward to playing in front of a full stadium.

"We have not had that experience in Germany for a while given the (Covid) restrictions.

"But we are looking forward to it because that's what football is all about. I don't think it's an issue for our players because even our youngest, Jude Bellingham, is an England international player.

"They all have experience. But it's going to be a special game and we have to deal with the atmosphere.

"It's going to push Rangers and we have to try and take something positive from it ourselves. If we manage to do that we can win tomorrow."

Rose lavished praise on Morelos, who gave the Dortmund players a tough time last week with a goal and a strike that was deflected in, but he hopes the Colombia striker has an off day on Thursday.

He said: "He's a good player. He's physically strong and knows how to use his body.

"He knows where the goal is, he has good movement and he is brave.

"He is not so tall but he is very brave and he was very difficult for our defenders to defend against last week.

"I like his style and his mentality and he is scoring. We saw it in the league, we had prepared for these games, and I hope on Thursday he will not have such a good day."

Haaland absence will 'disadvantage' Dortmund, admits Rangers defender

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