Rangers took a 4-2 lead into the second leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off against Borussia Dortmund thanks to an outstanding performance.
At Signal Iduna Park, the Bundesliga side were without star striker Erling Haaland, but it was their defense that let them down, as goals from James Tavernier, Alfredo Morelos, and John Lundstram, as well as an own goal by Dan-Axel Zagadou, put Rangers in command.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst played in the last 32 of the 1999-2000 UEFA Cup, and the Dutchman could only be pleased with his side’s performance.
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Meanwhile, Marco Rose was left scratching his head at the insipid showing from Dortmund, although goals from Jude Bellingham and Raphael Guerreiro ensured the tie is not over quite yet.
Zagadou had a golden chance to open the scoring for Dortmund when he completely misjudged a free header from a corner, and things got worse for the defender nine minutes before the break as a Rangers corner struck him on the arm and, after a quick VAR check, a penalty was awarded.
Tavernier sent Gregor Kobel the wrong way from the spot, and a tremendous first half for the Scottish champions improved further following another corner, which Joe Aribo flicked on for Morelos to tap in unmarked.
The second half began just as well for Van Bronckhorst’s side when Ryan Kent set up Lundstram to fire past Kobel with a neat finish from the edge of the box, although Bellingham immediately pulled a goal back with an equally accurate effort from similar distance.
That did not mark the start of a comeback, though, as Rangers made it four when Zagadou deflected in Morelos’ shot, with the VAR overturning an initial decision to rule the goal out for offside.
Guerreiro responded again for Dortmund with a neat finish with eight minutes to go, but the hosts could not make a further dent in the deficit ahead of the return leg at Ibrox.
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Not even the most optimistic Rangers fan would have predicted this result, but Dortmund fans might have had a hint at the impending doom.
Despite sitting second in the Bundesliga table, random awful results never seem far away for BVB, with their last outing at home seeing them hammered 5-2 by Bayer Leverkusen.
They understandably missed Haaland, who so often thrives in Europe, scoring 23 goals in 20 appearances in major European competition (exc. qualifying), but some of the defending was inexcusable.
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Rangers had lost seven of their previous eight away games against German opponents in European competition (D1) since beating Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Cup in October 1998, and failed to score in six of those games.
Here they were especially effective on the counter, having twice as many shots in the first half as Dortmund (six to three) despite only having 37.5 per cent of the possession.
All or nothing for Dortmund
In league play, a win and a defeat might work out better than two draws, but Dortmund’s remarkable record of drawing only once in 33 games in all competitions this season suggests a lack of control, which is extremely unhelpful in a tie such as this.
There was certainly no opportunity to settle for a first-leg draw on Thursday when not firing on all cylinders, meaning BVB will have to win big away from home to advance.
Key Opta facts
– Borussia Dortmund conceded four goals in a home European match for only the third time in their history, also doing so in November 1964 vs Man Utd (lost 6-1) and November 2016 vs Legia Warsaw (won 8-4).
– In the Europa League (since 2009-10), only one side have ever won the first leg of a knockout tie by two or more goals away from home and then not gone on to qualify: Real Betis vs Sevilla in 2013-14 (won 2-0 first leg, lost 2-0 second leg, lost on pens).
– Dortmund have conceded four or more goals in consecutive home games in all competitions (2-5 vs Bayer Leverkusen, 2-4 vs Rangers) for the first time since May and June 1983 (4-4 vs Bayern Munich, 4-6 vs Borussia Monchengladbach).
– Morelos became the all-time leading scorer for Rangers in major UEFA competitions (European Cup, Champions League, Cup Winners’ Cup, UEFA Cup and Europa League) with 14 goals, overtaking Ralph Brand’s record of 13 goals between 1960 and 1964.
What’s next?
It is back to respective league action, as Dortmund host Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday while Rangers travel to Dundee United earlier the same day, before the second leg in Scotland next Thursday.
