Bayer Leverkusen star Leon Bailey is in bullish mood ahead of his side’s trip to Rangers, with his comments showing no fear of an Ibrox factor, as quoted by the Glasgow Times.
The in-form German club will face off against the Gers under the lights on Thursday night in the Last 16 of the Europa League, at a venue which has been kind to the hosts in this competition.
While Ibrox hasn’t been immune from the domestic implosion since the turn of the year, in European competition, Steven Gerrard’s side have won all but one of their fixtures there this campaign.
That includes four qualifying matches, three group stage fixtures and a Round of 32 clash against Braga.
The only side to emerge from Glasgow with a point this season are Young Boys, who snatched a late draw courtesy of a Borna Barisic own goal.
Yet, Bailey thinks Bayer will win both legs of the tie and march through to the quarter-final.
We are going to Glasgow full of confidence and that’s important,” he said, as quoted by the Glasgow Times. “We are ready for the game.”
“We are going there to play the type of football that has seen us winning games. We won’t change our style for this one game. Winning games gives us confidence.
“We expect to get a victory. We think we can win in Scotland and we think we can succeed in the home leg too…we have to be prepared for anything that they throw at us, but we are going there to get the job done.”
Verdict
Based on the Jamaican international’s comments, Bayer consider themselves favourites for this tie and few would disagree with that.
They dispatched Porto 5-2 in the last round and are on an outstanding run in domestic football, hammering Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 in the Bundesliga at the weekend.
Bailey is highly likely to start the tie and is a key source of goals in the absence of the injured Kevin Volland. He hasn’t had the most consistent of seasons, but he has pace to burn and is big-game player, scoring against both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in recent months.
However, it would be a dangerous move for the German side to underestimate their hosts in the first leg.
Rangers were unfancied in Group G as well when they faced Braga in the previous round, and they produced performance after performance to upset the odds and set up this exciting tie.
