Rangers vs Malmo is a fixture that doesn’t have great memories for fans but it is one that Philippe Clement will be hoping gets their Europa League campaign off to a good start.
The Swedes are currently eight points clear at the top of the Allsvenskan having lost just three games in 24, they will be no pushovers once again.
A social media storm has stoked the fires ahead of the clash but the Rangers manager has remained calm throughout the buildup, despite a mini selection crisis affecting his starting XI.
Philippe Clement explains Rangers selection for Malmo
Ahead of the game, Philippe Clement had to make do without another key man with Hamza Igamane not able to board the plane due to passport reasons, as explained by David Edgar of the Heart and Hand podcast:
With Danilo still not 100%, this leaves Rangers with just Cyriel Dessers as the only fit striker, hopefully the big Nigerian is on form.
One striker who will be playing and who Clement will have prepared Rangers to be aware of is Isaac Kiese Thelin, the 32-year old Sweden international who he managed at Waasland-Beveren.
The much-travelled striker has 14 goals and four assists in 20 league games this season and will cause John Souttar and Robin Propper problems, if he is given the chance.
Clement knows how to deal with Malmo danger man
Speaking in the pre-match press conference, Clement explained that much of the hard work has already been done in terms of identifying Malmo’s strengths and weaknesses:
“I know him well, so I know his strong points. I will talk about that, we’ve done already, like we do with every player. There’s no difference with that.
“These days you can see so many games, you can go so deep and analyse because you have also a team of analysts in your club.
“So, in that way it’s not a big difference with knowing a player from before or seeing him on a video.
“Of course (we talk about weaknesses) but every player has his strong points and his weaknesses, otherwise they would not play in Malmö or Rangers but in a much bigger team.”
At Europa League and Champions League level, mistakes are punished more frequently than they are in the SPFL.
Even at a second tier club like Malmo, who are similar to Rangers in terms of aspirations, they have players capable of scoring goals like Thelin and Erik Botheim supported by a maverick in Anders Christiansen.
Clement would have liked a full squad to choose from, however, this one will have to do.
Hopefully, the manager has got it right from the first whistle and the players are celebrating at the final whistle.
