‘We need to attack’: Marco Rose details Borussia Dortmund mission brief at Rangers

Scottish champions Rangers stunned the Bundesliga giants with a 4-2 win in the first leg

Borussia Dortmund coach Marco Rose is ready for Rangers (Bernd Thissen via DPA) (PA Wire)

Marco Rose admits Borussia Dortmund have no option but to take Thursday night’s Europa League tie to Rangers.

The Scottish champions stunned the Bundesliga giants with a 4-2 win in the first leg of the knockout round play-off in Germany last week.

Dortmund boss Rose, who will again be without his star striker Erling Haaland, can expect a capacity crowd of around 50,000 at Ibrox in the second leg and knows his side will have to go for goals.

He said: “The situation is clear and we need to score two goals.

“We know that but we are trying not to think too much about it.

“We know we have to keep the balance between attacking and defending but we need to score two goals so of course we need to attack.

“Of course we are looking forward to playing in front of a full stadium.

“We have not had that experience in Germany for a while given the (Covid) restrictions.

“But we are looking forward to it because that’s what football is all about. I don’t think it’s an issue for our players because even our youngest, Jude Bellingham, is an England international player.

“They all have experience. But it’s going to be a special game and we have to deal with the atmosphere.

“It’s going to push Rangers and we have to try and take something positive from it ourselves. If we manage to do that we can win tomorrow.”

Rose revealed his admiration for Alfredo Morelos, who gave the Dortmund players a tough time last week with a goal and a strike that was deflected in but he hopes the Colombia striker has an off day on Thursday.

He said: “He’s a good player. 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 against last week.

“I like his style and 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.”

Haaland will again be missing against Rangers due to an abductor problem but Rose, whose side beat Borussia Monchengladbach 6-0 at the weekend, insists his side simply have to adjust.

Rose said: “Erling is still quite a bit away from being 100 per cent. He’s doing what he can to get back, but we have to be careful and make sure he’s not in pain anymore. We have to make sure he doesn’t get injured again.

“Erling has been missing for half a season so far and we have still scored a lot of goals.

“We are going to need balance, for sure, and score at least two goals.

“We need to be focused and concentrated and defend against Rangers’ strengths.

“We have also got to find better solutions going forward and we have got to show more presence offensively.

“We made a good first step against Gladbach and we want to make another step tomorrow.”