Erling Haaland unlikely to be fit for first leg of Rangers tie

Borussia Dortmund are set to be without Erling Haaland for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League tie against Rangers on Thursday.

Erling Haaland has missed Borussia Dortmund’s last two games due to the muscle injury he suffered in the win over TSG Hoffenheim last month. And according to WAZ, he is also unlikely to be fit in time for the first leg of Dortmund’s UEFA Europa League knockout round playoffs tie against Rangers.

This is also being reported by Ruhr Nachrichten, who add that Haaland returned to the training pitch on Monday afternoon but Thursday’s game is likely to come too early for the striker.

Haaland’s likely absence is a big blow for Borussia Dortmund, who consider the UEFA Europa League as their best chance of winning a trophy this season. The Norwegian international has scored 23 goals in just 20 appearances so far this season. Donyell Malen will likely start up front on Thursday if Haaland is forced to miss the game.

In addition to Haaland, Thomas Meunier and Marius Wolf are also injury doubts heading into Thursday’s crunch clash. It also remains to be seen whether Gio Reyna will be available. The USMNT international missed Sunday’s game against Union Berlin due to illness.

Thorgan Hazard is also a doubt, having been dropped from the squad to face Union Berlin by head coach Marco Rose for sporting reasons.

The first leg of Borussia Dortmund’s tie against Rangers will take place on Thursday at the Signal Iduna Park, with the second leg set to be held in Glasgow next week.