Marco Rose hopes Alfredo Morelos struggles for form in Thursday’s Europa League tie as the Rangers star was ‘very difficult’ for his Borussia Dortmund side, via the Glasgow Times.
Morelos scored once and created another when Dan-Axel Zagadou turned the Colombian’s cross into his own net last week. The strikes helped the Gers build commanding leads twice at the Westfalenstadion. But Jude Bellingham and Raphael Guerreiro replied in the 2-4 tie.
BVB will visit Ibrox on Thursday seeking to score at least twice to force the knockout round play-off into extra-time. The Bundesliga giants have to net twice in Glasgow to avoid exiting the competition after 90-minutes after UEFA abolished the away goal rule from this season.
Morelos tormented Borussia Dortmund while leading the Rangers attack in North Rhine-Westphalia. He fought for everything he could and played with a constant desire to score, ultimately netting from an absolute gift when Joe Aribo’s flick-on fell for a back-post tap-in.
Dortmund boss Rose hopes ‘very difficult’ Rangers star is off-form
Morelos scoring against Borussia Dortmund took the Rangers star’s tally for the season so far across all competitions to 17. He has also assisted six over the 25-year-old’s 34 games.
The 11-cap forward was also pivotal to the Gers progressing from the Europa League group stage to draw BVB. He struck both of the Ibrox natives’ goals to beat Sparta Prague 2-0 in November. And they ultimately edged the Czech side by one-point to finish as runners-up.
Now, Rose hopes Borussia Dortmund do not face the same Morelos as a week ago when they visit Rangers. As the BVB boss is fully aware of the threat the £1m star can present.
“He’s a good player,” Rose said. “He’s physically strong and knows how to use his body. He knows where the goal is, he has good movement and he is brave. He is not so tall, but he is very brave and he was very difficult for our defenders to defend last week.
“I like his style, his mentality and he is scoring. We saw it in the league, we had prepared for these games, and I hope on Thursday he will not have such a good day. He deserves this record, but he should stop scoring more [against Dortmund]!”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
