Motormouth Malmo boss predicts more Rangers pain as he laps up Swedes' wind-up video

Henrik Rydstrom is all for the good natured mind games ahead of Europa League opener

Motormouth Malmo boss Henrik Rydstrom insists he knows his Rangers history – and reckons it will “probably” repeat itself when his side are reunited with their Ibrox rivals.

The Swedes have ramped up the social media mind-games ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League opener, posting a video online showing footage of the two Champions League wins they recorded over Gers back in 2011 and 2021. The clip included a caption which poked fun at the financial woes which forced the Light Blues to work their way back from the Third Division before ending with the words: “We’ve missed you!”

The trolling attempt succeeded in drawing a reaction from the Rangers support, who bit back with their own insults, including one post which raged: “Malmo - the most irrelevant club in Denmark!” But Rydstrom saw nothing wrong with the wind-up attempt. He said: “I'm really sure that our video was a bit fun, and I think the response is also with that spirit.

“That's my experience with the Scottish supporters. A lot of passion, a lot of joy you can say. But also a fun part. I don't see any problem with it. I think it's really nice.”

But asked how important the history of the fixture was to this evening’s clash, Rydstrom - who was appointed 18 months after Steven Gerrard’s side lost out to Malmo over two legs - said: “It's impossible to measure it.

“We have new players, a new coach, for Rangers and it's basically the same for us. But there is a belief here in Malmo that we are good and that we can beat the Rangers. And also for the supporters.

“Could it also be important to remind the opponents of this game? Yeah, why not? I haven't seen the video. If I know our media department, it's done with a lot of love.

“I think we need that in football. I believe it's a good one. It's never a bad thing to remind the opponent that this happened before and it will probably happen again.

“We have seen them playing a little bit in Europe, but also in their own league. We know they are strong in their own league. I'm not sitting here and saying that we are better and they are worse. We have respect for the opponent, but we also have big belief in ourselves.”

Rydstrom won the Swedish title in his first season in charge - and is on course to do it again with his team currently 11 points clear of their Allsvenskan rivals with six games remaining. He’s been credited with masterminding a chaotic attacking style based around star man and skipper Anders Christiansen.

“I can talk for hours about that,” he said. “But basically it started with a little bit of how can we give the ball to Anders and then put him up in as many good situations as possible. That was the starting point when I arrived here in November 2022.

“I can still be a really positional guy who says, ‘You need to stay here and then we need a player here’. But basically I thought it was kind of boring. And then we started to give the ball to AC and develop things around him so he could be the best version and do the things he's good at.

“We want to get the players to feel the joy. It’s not just a case of giving the ball to AC and he solves it. It's really strict in some other parts. But not from a positional point of view.

“And I think that also makes it a little bit unpredictable for the opponent. Sometimes it’s unpredictable for me as a coach because I'm like, ‘Now what is happening on the pitch?’ As a coach you like to say, ‘OK, now we do like this’. And you feel like God. And I don't feel like God. But then still it's a little bit more fluid game.”

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