One four the wall of fame
Terminator Haaland watches on in agony as Gers bulldoze Borussia buddies with a win for the ages
DORTMUND tried to get their famous Yellow Wall shaking by cranking up Van Halen tune Jump.
But it was Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his Rangers men leaping for joy as they pulled off a result that will go down as one of the most incredible by a Scottish side on foreign soil.
Marco Rose’s German giants were missing their Terminator Erling Haaland at the Westfalenstadion.
Yet Rangers have their own lethal scoring machine in Alfredo Morelos.
The Colombian’s deadly strike made it 10 goals in his last 12 games as he gunned down the favourites for this season’s Europa League.
Haaland is a doubt for next week’s return at Ibrox and the two-goal advantage Gers are heading back to Glasgow with will give them the belief they’ll be the side going through.
James Tavernier had an astonishing night in North Rhine-Westphalia and it started as he stroked home a penalty before Morelos put Rangers two-up at the break.
John Lundstram lashed home a sensational third and, while England ace Jude Bellingham and Raphael Guerreiro did beat Allan McGregor on his 100th Euro outing, an own-goal by Dan-Axel Zagadou means the Ibrox side are in the driving seat of this tie.
It’s hard to believe a side that looked hopelessly lost at Celtic Park two weeks ago could put on such an impressive show.
But the return of Ryan Jack gave Rangers the control and authority in midfield that they have lacked during his year-long injury battle.
With his composure in the heat of battle, there was no cause for panic when Dortmund did come close at times in the opening half. And when the chances came to punch back, Gers did with ruthless accuracy.
Rose had joked pre-match that Gio Reyna, son of Ibrox icon Claudio, had a relationship with van Bronckhorst dating back to his nappy days.
Well, it was Dortmund who were left peeing in their lederhosen as Rangers ran riot.
Officially the Gers allocation was only 500 fans due to Covid limits but there were plenty more dotted about the 10,000 in this vast venue and it was their noise which echoed loudest around the sparsely filled stands.
By the end, though, the furious Yellow Wall supporters would have hurled bricks at their own star players had they got hold of them. A couple of irate punters tried for a confrontation at full-time before being dragged away.
Haaland may have been missing but even without the Norwegian superstar, Rose still had an arsenal of serious weapons, with World Cup winner Mats Hummels, his fellow Germany ace Marco Reus, Belgium’s Axel Witsel and Bellingham all starting.
Jack was back for just his second start in a year as midfield partner to Lundstram, who also got a surprise nod over the benched Glen Kamara and Aaron Ramsey.
Kemar Roofe and Fashion Sakala were mysteriously missing but this was a night when every single man in Light Blue turned up with a huge performance.
They looked relaxed from the off. Calvin Bassey was a little too much so as he fired a casual pass straight at Julian Brandt, almost putting the German straight through on McGregor.
It was a let-off for Gers but there was an even bigger one for the hosts moments later when Ryan Kent slipped in Borna Barisic. Keeper
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Gregor Kobel came up with a block but Rangers need not have worried about the Croat’s missed chance.
First, though, they had to ride their luck a little.
Zagadou somehow found himself all alone, six yards out, as Brandt swept in a corner but he planted his header straight into the turf and McGregor gathered easily.
The Bundesliga big guns were starting to get their midfield runners sneaking in behind Gers’ defence. Dortmund hadn’t exactly swarmed over the Scots in their bumblebee kit but there were creating chances.
The visitors had weathered the worst of Dortmund’s first-half pressure but with two huge moments in the space of three minutes they blew Rose’s side away.
Nobody in the ground spotted Zagadou’s penalty-box handball as Tavernier slung over a corner on 38 minutes. However, UEFA’s man in the van alerted French referee Clement Turpin, who pointed to the spot after consulting the replay.
That drew a huge reaction from the
travelling fans but the roar which greeted Tavernier’s successful spot-kick was even louder as he fired the ball past keeper Kobel.
The home support sat in stunned silence – and they were left speechless once more moments later.
As Joe Aribo got past Manuel Akanji to flick on another Tavernier corner, Morelos pounced to ram home and sent the away support into dreamland.
The Yellow Wall finally found its voice as they furiously booed their side down the tunnel.
But it was party time in the away end four minutes after the restart. Kent wriggled past three challenges down the left before cutting back for Lundstram to rifle home with a full-blooded strike.
Rangers have put on some fine displays in Europe since their return to the continental stage but nothing like this, outplaying, outfighting and out-thinking one of the biggest clubs in the world.
Bellingham briefly gave the home side hope as he swept home from the 15 yards out but Rangers need not have worried.
Morelos ensured there would be no comeback as he raced on to an Aribo pass to squeeze a finish past Kobel with the help of a deflection off Zagadou. The goal had to be signed off by VAR after the linesman wrongly flagged for offside but that only gave the fans another chance to leap out of their seats.
Guerreiro cut the advantage back to two with eight minutes left as he arced a fine strike over McGregor but that mattered not to the Bouncy Bouncy brigade. It was time to jump again as the final whistle blew.