Europa League: Leipzig wants Rangers under pressure, identify Aribo’s threat

RB Leipzig take on Glasgow Rangers in the UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday and Leipzig head coach Domenico Tedesco believes they need to put the Scottish side under intense pressure.

"Rangers are, similarly to Atalanta or more recently Union Berlin, a robust, physical side who defend with a man-marking system. Generally speaking, Scottish football has more individual duels.

"If you let the Rangers play their game, they can beat any opponent with their physicality. That’s proven in their recent results, where they defeated Borussia Dortmund and SC Braga, and not just by slim margins.

“They also have a lot of quality on the wings. They use this time and time again with their strong individual players like Ryan Kent, who can drive the attack forward. In addition to that you obliviously also need good players in the box.

"That’s the case for Rangers, who have good forwards who can make use of the many crosses. Therefore we have to try to prevent them from developing those moves. They’ll always try to find solutions with the ball if you don’t put them under pressure.

"They also have the ability to get their central midfielders high up in attack and play it quickly into their forwards, get behind the defensive line and create problems."

Tadesco identifies Super Eagles midfielder Joe Aribo as a player that can cause them a lot of problems.

"Rangers have a lot of quality in their ranks. Of course, there are a few question marks over the way they’ll line up because both of their regular forwards are unavailable.

"But in the last game, Aribo did a great job and showed that they can always be dangerous. They bring a lot of speed in their game and dominate the half-spaces just like a real top team."

"I wasn’t shocked that they knocked out Dortmund and Braga. They played really well and taking a closer look at individual games, like the win against Dortmund or in the Scottish Cup against Celtic, it’s not surprising to see them where they are.

"The team is well organised and are coached by a great head coach. A lot of good work has been done at the club off the pitch and the squad has always been strengthened through great work in the transfer market."

 He also spoke of the possibility of an all-German final

"The next game is always the hardest one, so it doesn’t make much sense to me to spend any time thinking about a potential German final at the moment. First of all, we have a difficult semifinal against a strong team ahead of us. The best way to keep your focus is to simply focus on the next game and your own game."