Axel Witsel insists Borussia Dortmund’s Europa League hopes are not yet dead and buried as he warned Rangers to beware a BVB backlash at Ibrox.
The Bundesliga big guns were ripped apart by Giovanni van Bronckhorst ’s side at the Westfalenstadion last week.
The 4-2 thriller means Gers have one foot in the last 16 but Belgium star Witsel reckons his side still have enough firepower to progress despite being hit with another raft of injuries.
Superstar frontman Erling Haaland is already a major doubt for the second leg but head coach Marco Rose has now been hit with further bad news after Gio Reyna and Dan-Axel Zagadou both limped out of Sunday’s win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Witsel said: “We have not put ourselves in easy position for the game in Glasgow - but we can’t believe the tie is over.
“The tie is not over we will not accept that.
“We have the quality to go and produce a big result.
“It doesn’t matter that we have injuries our squad is big enough and has enough quality to cope.”
Under-pressure boss Rose and his side were booed off by their furious faithful on Thursday night after being blown away by the Scottish champions.
But they produced the perfect response to that shock set-back on Sunday as they obliterated Gladbach 6-0, with Germany ace Marco Reus scoring twice and laying on another three as they kept pace with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
Witsel reckons Dortmund played into Rangers’ hands with some ropey defending in the Rhineland.
But he insists there will be no repeat of the gifts that allowed James Tavernier, Alfredo Morelos and John Lundstram to net before Zagadou’s own goal sealed a famous night for the Light Blues.
Witsel - who suffered the indignity of being hooked at half-time against Gers - said: “We know how poor the result was against Rangers.
“We have to show them respect and say they played well - but we helped them with they way we performed.
“We were not playing as we should be and we know we can - and we made it easy for Rangers on the night.
“They capitalised on our errors and we can’t afford that again.”
Dortmund can expect a far more frenzied atmosphere in Glasgow to the scaled-back roar their famous Yellow Wall was able to produce last week after covid restrictions meant there were just 10000 fans in attendance to see Gers pull off one of the most remarkable Euro away days in Scottish football history.
“The atmosphere will be a big one in Scotland,” added Witsel. “We know they have a famous stadium and passionate fans who will be on a high after their result against us.
“We just have to make sure we focus on the way we know we can play and hope it is enough for a big turn around.”
