German legend Lothar Matthäus has sent some thinly veiled barbs to Rangers following Borussia Dortmund’s defeat to them in the Europa League.
The Ibrox club may well be flying high in Europe, but are behind Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, and this was brought up by Matthäus.
Rangers knocked the German side out of UEFA’s secondary competition last week, with a 2-2 draw at Ibrox securing a 6-4 aggregate win after a 4-2 in the first leg.
The result was arguably one of the biggest shocks of the competition this season and came courtesy of two superb performances from Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side, who were very much considered the underdogs in the clash.
It was also made all the sweeter by them outperforming rivals Celtic, with Postecoglou’s side knocked out by Bodo/Glimt after a 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park and then 2-0 loss in the return leg on Thursday.
While those around the Bundesliga club are disappointed, Rangers been heavily praised for their displays in both legs and the focus in Germany on Borussia Dortmund and their failure to show up in either clash.
That continued this week after a 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Augsburg, something which has left Matthäus fuming and throwing digs at Rangers in the process.
“I really like Borussia Dortmund, but I can’t think of many more nice things come to mind at the moment. Dortmund won a very special triple this season: The embarrassing cup-bankruptcy triple,” he wrote in his column for Sky Sports Germany.
“They disgraced themselves in all three cup competitions by every trick in the book. Out of the DFB Cup with a 1:2 defeat at FC St. Pauli. Out of the Champions League in a more than feasible group.
“Now the next low point in the Europa League. The elimination against the third-rate team Glasgow Rangers. The runners-up of the Scottish league.
“2:4 and 2:2. Unbelievable. By the way, Rangers are second in Scotland behind Celtic. And they failed in the Europa League against the Norwegians FK Bodo/Glimt. Well then…
“It simply can’t be the case that teams that are far inferior in cup competitions regularly take the upper hand.
“When the argument is made that Bayern have so much more money and so do other clubs in Europe, then I dare to doubt that Sporting Lisbon, Glasgow Rangers or FC St. Pauli have anywhere near as much economic power as Borussia Dortmund.
“With all due respect to these clubs and other teams against whom Borussia Dortmund has not delivered, it must also be possible without Erling Haaland.”
