LEVERKUSEN RUN RAMPANT BUT BOSZ SEES GERRARD’S MEN AS DANGEROUS
BAYER LEVERKUSEN boss
Peter Bosz last night refused to write off Rangers despite their form slump as the Germans handed out an ominous Europa League warning ahead of their trip to Ibrox.
The Bundesliga high-fliers ripped Eintracht Frankfurt apart with a display that oozed class and should ring serious alarm bells as they cruised to an easy win without ever having to get out of second gear.
Brazilian kid Paulinho helped himself to a quickfire double on his first league start for the club and fellow youngster Kai Havertz opened the scoring, with winger Karim Bellarabi also netting in a one-sided rout.
The only downside for the hosts was a knee injury to key defender Sven Bender that looks set to rule him out of Thursday’s first leg.
But Bosz is expecting a serious test from Rangers despite their recent poor domestic form.
He said: ‘Rangers deserve respect because of the results they have achieved in the Europa League this season.
‘They have eliminated Braga, Porto and Feyenoord, so we know they will be dangerous.
“Rangers are a traditional big club, so I’m not surprised to see them at this stage. They deserve to be here.
“I am looking forward to taking my team to Glasgow. I have never played in Scotland, so I am hoping to enjoy it.
‘We are playing with confidence and we want to go far in this competition — but to do that, we have to get past Rangers.
‘Sven Bender is about to have an MRI scan, so we don’t know how bad his injury is yet.
‘I am very satisfied today. To win 4-0 against Frankfurt in a busy week is not easy. And we played very well today indeed.’
It took Leverkusen less than four minutes to give Rangers a timely reminder of what they are going to be facing when 20-year-old German international midfielder Havertz slid in to poke Moussa Diaby’s cross into the net.
The lead was doubled in the
15th minute when fellow
German international Bellarabi tucked in Paulinho’s cross in a carbon copy of the opener.
But the hosts were hit with an injury blow when central defender Bender limped off with a knee injury and was replaced by Jonathan Tah.
Bender’s brother Lars — the club captain — missed yesterday’s clash with a thigh strain, while midfielder Nadiem Amiri is also injured with a shoulder injury.
Brazilian striker Paulinho netted a brilliant third goal for Leverkusen, with the 19-year-old skipping past two defenders before dispatching the coolest of finishes.
Paulinho doubled his tally for the afternoon in the 55th minute when he again slid the ball home from a similar position, following a threaded pass from Havertz.