Rangers are preparing to face Malmö in the Europa League and will need all the help they can get as they look to get this season’s campaign off to a positive start.
The Gers are well familiar with the Swedish champions having twice met the Allsvenskan side in Champions League qualification over the years.
And twice Rangers have felt the cold ruthlessness of the Scandinavian outfit.
The Gers were infamously dumped 2-1 on aggregate ahead in 2011, a result which had a crippling impact on the club’s already desperate finances.
Rangers also stumbled against Jon Dahl Thomason’s cocky Malmö side in a result which spelled the beginning of the end of Steven Gerrard’s reign at Ibrox.
But this time around Rangers have been boosted by the news that Malmö’s record-breaking signing – who joined this summer from Celtic – will not be available to play this week.
Malmö’s record buy and ex-Celtic star to miss Rangers tie
There are a few players in the Malmö team Rangers fans will be familiar with.
Norwegian striker Erik Botheim might’ve wound up at Rangers had things gone differently a few seasons ago.
’Genius’ Danish midfielder Anders Christiansen is also a player on form who has received the full backing of the Malmö coaching staff ahead of the visit of Rangers.
But Sead Haksabanovic is another name which Rangers fans will remember from his time with Old Firm rivals Celtic.
According to BBC Sport, the Montenegrin international joined Celtic in a £2.5m deal from Rubin Kazan in 2022 but two years later and the Parkhead side cut their losses on the player this summer.
According to Football Scotland, Malmö paid a club record £1.7m fee to sign Haksabanovic from Celtic but his time in Sweden has not gone to plan so far.
Currently sidelined with injury with the transfer subject to intense scrutiny in the Swedish press, Sead Haksabanovic is in line to miss the visit of Rangers in the Europa League.
Having made the bench for two of Malmö’s Champions League qualifiers – the Swede’s crashing out against Sparta Prague – Haksabanovic is yet to actually make his debut at the Eleda Stadion.
Rangers need good start to Europa League campaign
Rangers will be keen to get their Europa League campaign off to a winning start in Sweden with a challenging eight game campaign kicking off in Malmö.
After the clash with the Swedes, Rangers will host Ligue 1 giants Lyon and then Romanian outfit FCSB at Ibrox.
Challenging trips to face Greek side Olympiakos and French outfit Nice then follow, before a visit to Old Trafford to face Manchester United is sandwiched between home clashes against Tottenham Hotspur and Belgian outfit USG.
The challenge of this season’s Europa League campaign is a stiff one and for that reason the Gers will need the best possible start in Sweden.
Overcoming Malmö will be no mean feat either, with Henrik Rydstrom’s side 11 points clear at the top of the Swedish Allsvenskan and already 24 games into their domestic season.
Here are the eight fixtures Rangers will face immediately after every Europa League group stage fixture with the challenge firmly set at Ibrox.
