Balogun Expresses Delight in Haaland’s Absence in Crucial Tie Tonight

Femi Solaja with agency report

Super Eagles’ defence strongman, Leon Balogun, has said that the absence of Erling Haaland for Borussia Dortmund tonight in the crucial second leg Europa League tie is a major boost for Scottish Rangers.

The Nigerian start who missed the AFCON tournament in Cameroon due to injury is back to action and was pencilled to do the hard-man’s job on the free scoring Norwegian as they look to finish the job against the German side and progress into the next phase of the tournament.

Haaland missed last week Thursday’s match in Germany as Rangers claimed a shock 4-2 victory at the Westfalenstadion.

The Norwegian striker did not travel to Glasgow for the second leg as he continues to recover from injury.

Balogun is back and available after returning to training and knows the loss of Haaland is a blow for Dortmund ahead of the clash.

“I think in this competition you want to compete against the best and he is one of the best at the moment,” he said.

“So, from that perspective, it is a sad thing. But if you look at what he means to Dortmund then surely it is a disadvantage to them, it is going to weaken them a little bit.

“But mixed feelings. Definitely not going to complain about it though.”

Aaron Ramsey will be missing again from the Rangers squad for Thursday night’s tie against the German side.

The Ibrox side’s marquee January signing has managed just 94 minutes since joining on loan from Juventus.

Manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst has no other fresh injury worries as he looks to lead Rangers to another famous victory.