Rangers face a Malmo 'genius' with a dirty side as boss fires key man a warning after elbow flashpoint

Returning Malmo captain Anders Christiansen is a "genius" and a serious threat to Rangers - but only if he cuts out the nonsense and stays on the right side of the law.

That's the view of their manager Henrik Rydstrom who only wants to see one side of the 34-year-old on Thursday. Rangers travel to Sweden this week for their opening Europa League match and it's a side they have history against, Malmo eliminating them from Champions League qualifying in 2021 and all the way back in 2011. In a sense it's third time's the charm for Philippe Clement's team then as they look to get the new league phase off to a flying start.

They face a Malmo side who are now 11 points clear at the top of the Swedish League. A weekend 4-0 win over Hacken was their fourth game in a row without conceding a goal and also saw the return of veteran midfielder Christiansen who helped himself to a double but was also fortunate to only receive a yellow card after an elbowing incident. And boss Rydstrom wants to see more of the good stuff, and less of the bad.

He said: "He is a genius. But it is important that he stays on the right side of the law too. He has been missing for the past two matches and what a difference he made to our side. He can do everything and will have a very important role against Rangers."

And Christiansen is looking forward to playing in Europe again. He said: "The whole team is in good form right now and we are looking forward to the game. We always play to win and we have definitely targeted started the competition with a win against Rangers."