Nice are revving up to pile the misery on Rangers when under fire Philippe Clement takes his side to France for Thursday’s Europa League clash.
Defender Melvin Bard insists his side are reaching peak form at the right time and that’s bad news for a Light Blues side who have already fallen 11 points behind leaders Celtic after just a dozen games. However, they have performed far better in the Europa League where they sit in 10th place out of the 36 teams following two wins and a draw in the four games played in the new-look format. They now face a huge test in France on Thursday against Nice.
But while Rangers were being held to a home draw by Dundee United, Nice moved up to fifth spot in Ligue 1 following a 2-1 win against Strasbourg at the weekend. They haven’t lost a league game since the beginning of September, are unbeaten in eight matches and have only tasted defeat once at their Allianz Riviera ground in all competitions since March and that was to French champions PSG.
And Bard, who scored at the weekend, reckons they are getting better with every game after three wins and a draw in their last four league outings. He said: “I do think we are improving every week and you can see we are on a good run at the moment.
“It’s a big week for the club with European football too and we are in a good place. We were behind at half time against Strasbourg and we knew it would take a big performance to turn it around, but we managed it. And personally, I am really happy with my own performances right now.”
Meanwhile, ex Romania striker Adrian Illie has claimed Rangers star Ianis Hagi could sign for Borussia Monchengladbach in a £2 million deal in January. Hagi came on as a half time sub at the weekend to make just his third appearance for Rangers since his contract dispute was resolved, but was unable to help relieve the pressure on manager Clement after a 1-1 draw with Dundee United.
He was urged to leave Ibrox last week by Romania manager Mircea Lucescu and dad Gheorghe Hagi issued a plea at the weekend for Clement to play his son more.
Now ex-Valencia and Galatasaray ace Illie, who is a friend of the Hagi family, claims to know that German clubs are keen on Hagi with Monchengladbach leading the way.
He said: “I know there are teams from Germany who are interested in Ianis. Borussia Monchengladbach are the main club. It would be better for him to sign for a team who are in the middle positions in the Bundesliga and such a move would be good for him.
“Maybe we will have a discussion with his agent about it. I also discussed his situation with Gheorghe Hagi. Ianis has to come in to play a few more matches, but there are Bundesliga teams that could pay for a transfer for him.
“I believe his club are asking for around two and a million Euros. I think it’s somewhere around that figure. The transfer would do him good. Give him a year to settle into football in Germany and watch him go.”