Dembele is a huge threat... but Rangers can still be Lyon tamers
MHe’ll get a hot reception but I don’t think he will be fazed by the crowd
OUSSA Dembele didn’t take his eye off the long pass launched in his direction. A superb touch on his chest set up a left-foot shot lashed high into the net from what was a difficult angle.
Dembele’s goal in Lyon’s 3-1 win over Strasbourg on Sunday evening encapsulated some of the qualities that make him such a fearsome striker.
It was the kind of finish you could only admire. Unless, of course, you happened to be a Rangers player preparing for Thursday night’s Europa League match at Ibrox.
It looks likely that Light Blues boss Steven Gerrard will have to field a rejigged central defence for the Group A opener but, in truth, Dembele would represent a major test no matter who was picked.
I expect the former Celtic hero to be pumped up to the maximum at Ibrox. He would love nothing more than to add another goal against his old rivals. With Lyon also having so much quality in the attacking midfield roles, we’re talking about a monumental task to stop them — particularly with the possibility of both Connor Goldson and Filip Helander being absent.
But I don’t discount Rangers from this one as Lyon have their own vulnerabilities at the back, which I’ll return to later. Ultimately, it might come down to which side is the most ruthless.
That’s a quality Dembele certainly has within his game. He’s scored four goals in five games in France already this season and I think he’s got a bit of everything.
I see some comparisons to Romelu Lukaku in that he has pace, is strong physically and has excellent awareness and vision to ally to his clinical finishing.
It didn’t go too well for him on loan at Atletico Madrid last season. That can happen but now he’s back at a very fine address in Lyon.
He was a menace during Old Firm games in his time at Celtic. Clearly, Rangers are a much better side now than they were then, before Gerrard arrived. But I think Dembele has also improved since leaving Scotland. As I said, I think this match will add another dimension to him psychologically.
He has never hidden how much he enjoyed scoring for Celtic against Rangers. Those goals will be running through his mind before he steps back out at Ibrox.
There will be a hot reception but I don’t think he’s the type to be fazed by a crowd. Rangers have to find other ways to frustrate him by shutting off the supply line to him as much as possible.
I think back to my own career for any examples that might have placed me in Dembele’s shoes and the closest I probably got was when I went with Chelsea to play against FC Copenhagen in the 1998 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
I had started out at Brondby and their rivalry with Copenhagen had become like a mini-Old Firm clash in Denmark.
But the twist was that I was actually in talks at the time to leave Chelsea for Copenhagen. I don’t think there’s much chance of Dembele signing for Rangers any time soon!
It was certainly one of the toughest games that I ever played in as all these negotiations were taking place in the background — and had become public knowledge.
We drew 1-1 in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, so needed a victory in Denmark. I felt under so much scrutiny.
The Copenhagen fans were looking at me and wondering whether I was really going to join them while the Chelsea fans probably couldn’t understand why I wanted to leave.
I didn’t actually expect to play that night but Gianluca Vialli said to me: ‘Brian, you are still a Chelsea player. You’ve got the qualities: help make the difference’.
I ended up scoring — with a header — to win it 1-0! It was my only goal for Chelsea, but a very important one.
Chelsea went through, FC Copenhagen went out and shortly afterwards I went to Denmark to join them. What a strange situation.
Things are more straightforward for Dembele. He knows his huge value to Lyon, but he is far from the only threat they have in the final third. I’ve read there might be some doubt about Lucas Paqueta’s availability due to quarantine rules. It would be a huge boost for Rangers if he missed out, because the Brazilian is one who really pulls the strings. Houssem Aouar is another huge talent. I would argue he is maybe not the finished article yet in terms of his end product but there is no doubting his ability. And then you have Xherdan Shaqiri, who brings a huge depth of experience and attacking quality. Lyon have scored eight goals in their first five games in Ligue 1 but the flip side is that they have conceded the same number. And I know the way the coach, Peter Bosz, wants his teams to play. If you go back to his time at Ajax, briefly at Dortmund — where he got the
sack — then at Bayer Leverkusen, every Bosz side has played attractive football.
They have all been very good going forward, but the critics would say he hasn’t really won anything so far in his career and that his teams can be vulnerable to counter-attacking.
Jason Denayer, another former Celt (inset left), is a big part of their defence and also scored at the weekend.
He is a very good player, don’t get me wrong here, but I do think there are occasions when he gets drawn out of position and can be guilty of a little bit of ball-watching. If Rangers can get their movement right they will cause Lyon problems for sure.
Obviously, though, Gerrard’s side will have to dig extremely deep at the opposite end.
We don’t yet know the exact situation in terms of who will be available. But if Goldson, Helander and Jack Simpson are all out for varying reasons then Calvin Bassey may have to fill in at centre-back beside Leon Balogun. Bassey has got some experience of that role from his younger days with Leicester City — and I like him as a player — but there is always an issue in terms of knowing how your centre-back partner is going to react in certain situations.
It will be a difficult night for sure. All the players need to be together. They have to stick their chests out and say: ‘We are Rangers. We’ve played some top teams in recent seasons and achieved some great results’.
There is a respect attached to the club’s name in Europe again due to how well they have done under Gerrard’s management. Hopefully, that belief could add another few percentage points to their performance level on Thursday.
If it does, another positive outcome might just be in their grasp. A draw against this Lyon side, and in these particular circumstances, would certainly not be a bad result.