It's hasta la vista for Dortmund’s Terminator but Marco Rose reckons Rangers will be coming to the Westfalenstadion tooled up with some serious weapons.
A thigh strain means the German giants will be without lethal goalscoring machine Erling Haaland as they prepare to do battle with Gio van Bronckhorst ’s side in tonight’s Europa League play-off clash.
The Norwegian wonderkid, nicknamed after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cyborg assassin, is determined he’ll be back for next week’s second leg in Glasgow.
But first Rose has warned his side they need to be ready for a vicious shoot-out with the Rangers marksmen.
The Borussia boss has identified Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo as the most dangerous threats.
He has every right to be worried after watching Dortmund’s dodgy defence leak goals galore since the turn of the year.
They registered their first clean sheet in seven games –and just their second Bundesliga blank since October – during Sunday’s 3-0 win over Union Berlin.
But Rose fears his backline could be gunned down again if they let the Rangers trio shoot from the hip.
Rose – who will welcome back Gio Reyna from a stomach complaint but has former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can suspended – said: “Erling is not in contention yet but tomorrow we will have the starting XI on the pitch that we think is the strongest to win.
“I’d say Rangers’ ability to play as a team is one of their strong points.
“Of course there are a few players that we have to take care of. Kent is really strong in the one-v-ones on the wing.
“He always prepares goals so we will have to pay attention to him.
“In the front, Morelos scored a lot in the last few matches and Kemar Roofe is another option. Aribo is a physically strong No.8 and also very strong in the centre.
“Overall, Rangers perform as a unit with some strong individuals. A team that has weapons – pace and good combination over the wings. But they are also capable of combining so we have to be ready for all those tasks.”
The last 16 has proved to be the ceiling to Rangers’ Euro ambitions over the past two years but to reach that stage this time they’ll have to smash past the 1997 Champions League winners and create one off the competition’s biggest upsets so far.
But Rose has no doubt Gers are in the knockout stages on merit. He said: “Of course the Scottish league is not comparable to the Bundesliga. But they’ve played Europa League and came through a group with Lyon in it.
“They are quite capable of playing really quick, swift football. If we let them play, they play great stuff.
“Giovanni van Bronckhorst has a clear idea of the football he wants to play and it’s a team that has the right to play in this knockout stage.”
