Europa League: are Rangers ready for high-flying Malmo? | OneFootball

As we know Rangers are back on European business this Thursday, a trip to high-flying Malmö Fotbollförening (to give them their full name) who sit comfortably top of the Allsvenskan table miles in front of Djurgårdens IF and unless there’s a huge collapse Henrik Rydström’s will easily win the title with something to spare.

They are in a very strong place right now, having only been bested in the Champions League playoffs by the very very strong Sparta Prague, the Czech giants making it to the league stage and winning their opening match easily. They are very very tough, and it was no disgrace for Malmö to fall short there.

But Rangers were dispatched rather comfortably a stage earlier by Kyiv, themselves dropping into the Europa League at the playoff stage but having secured the £5M prize, as Malmo did.

Short version?

Rangers aren’t ready for Malmo.

Malmo are a far better team than Dynamo Kyiv, and Rangers just aren’t good enough to overcome them.

Usually at European level, especially the Europa League, for good reason most Rangers fans would normally believe our club can beat anyone at that stage. Indeed, we have – giant sides like Dortmund and Leipzig have both fallen to our club, and we made it to Sevilla.

But this Rangers is nowhere near as strong as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Europe-bestriding colossus was, this team hasn’t won at European level, aside a staggering win in Betis, for a very long time. You’d have to go back to the 9th of November last year with Philippe Clement’s European debut and a 2-1 win at Ibrox over Sparta Prague in the Europa League group stage for the last time Rangers recorded a success at that level.

Malmo will be no walkover, a pretty smooth-oiled machine, just about to secure the Swedish title and in a pretty good place.

Meanwhile Rangers stumble from one crisis to the next these days.

Clement would be working a bit of a miracle to secure three points in Sweden, especially without a left back!