Rangers have been handed a Europa League blueprint as a full-strength Borussia Dortmund side saw their German Cup defence come to an end against St Pauli.
The holders of the competition fell to a 2-1 defeat to the Bundesliga 2 outfit in a shock result which shows the German giants are anything but invincible ahead of their Euro clash with the Gers.
Despite dominating possession in the match Dortmund struggled to come back from two goals down and save for an Erling Haaland penalty would not have scored in the match at all.
The defeat comes despite starting an immensely strong side that included eleven internationals and the likes of Mats Hummels, Thomas Meunier, Raphael Guerreiro, Axel Witsel, Marco Reus and Erling Haaland.
Togo international Etienne Amenyido had given St Pauli the lead over Dortmund after only four minutes in the Millerntor Stadium before an Axel Witsel OG had the Hamburg club in dreamland at halftime.
Despite Dortmund’s efforts in the second half only that Haaland penalty broke St Pauli’s resolve and the match would see the Germans crash out of the cup they won last season.
Borussia Dortmund won last season’s trophy by demolishing RB Leipzig 4-1 in the Final.
Rangers fans will take heart from Borussia Dortmund defeat to St Pauli
Rangers will take heart from the St Pauli result as they prepare to face off against Borussia Dortmund in a Europa League playoff round tie to reach the last 16.
Dropping down from the Champions League, a trip to the Westfalenstadion is the biggest European tie for Rangers in the best part of a decade and fans are already salivating at the thought.
Perhaps now supporters will be dreaming of an iconic result to match the occasion with the Gers set to travel to Germany for the first leg on February 17th before hosting the return a week later.
Both the matches in Germany and Scotland promise to be special occasions and here’s what Dortmund boss Marco Rose had to say about the visit of the Rangers support.