Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland is a ‘significant doubt’ for Thursday’s Europa League clash against Rangers but teammate Gio Reyna is back fit, according to Bundesliga.com.
Haaland is widely considered to be one of the top attackers in world football, and the striker’s returns so far this season certainly support that idea.
He’s scored 23 goals in 20 appearances across all competitions, as well as providing six assists for teammates in the Bundesliga.
Keeping him quiet would surely be the biggest task of Connor Goldson and whoever partners him at centre-back’s Rangers careers.
However, the 21-year-old may well miss out, at least on the first leg.
He’s sat out of Dortmund’s last two league matches with a groin injury, and reports have claimed that he won’t recover in time to feature on Thursday [Ruhr Nachrichten].
On Tuesday morning, an update from Bundesliga.com backed up claims elsewhere that Haaland had missed training on Monday in order to receive physiotherapy.
Bundesliga.com weren’t prepared to categorically rule him out of the first leg, but they did label him a ‘significant doubt’.
It’s not all bad news for the hosts, though, as it’s claimed that Gio Reyna – son of former Rangers player Claudio Reyna – is back fit and available.
The attacking midfielder was a regular in the Dortmund XI last season and scored in two of their opening three Bundesliga matches this campaign, but has missed almost 20 league matches since then due to injuries and illness.
He is said to be ‘pushing for a start’ against the Gers, but it’s suggested that he may have to settle for a spot on the bench, with Thorgan Hazard more likely to get the nod.
Potential Haaland absence a boost for Gers
While Reyna’s return to fitness injects extra quality and creativity into Dortmund’s squad ahead of this match and manager Marco Rose already has many high-quality operators at his disposal, Haaland is very much the main man.
If he misses out on Thursday, Rangers’ chances of getting a positive result will increase significantly.
The vastly reduced capacity has already taken away much of the fear factor associated with the Westfalenstadion and while they haven’t been without their own issues of late, Gio’s men may fancy their chances of getting something against a team who lost 5-2 at home to Bayer Leverkusen just over a week ago.
Meanwhile, a 22-year-old attacker looks unlikely to play for Rangers again amid struggles at his loan club.
