Scott Mullen
BBC Scotland at the Red Bull Arena

From our lofty vantage point up here in row nose bleed, a toaty wee Giovanni van Bronckhorst is cutting a calm figure slowly patrolling the edge of his technical area. An easy take from Allan McGregor is enough to bring a small applause from the Dutchman as he saunters in front of the dugout.

He'll be reasonably content so far, but his team need to make it stick and relieve some pressure.

Konrad Laimer breaks free on the right for the hosts but his cross is easily snaffled up by goalkeeper Allan McGregor at the near post.

Steven Thompson
Former Rangers striker on BBC Sportsound

Rangers are struggling to get out of their own half at the moment.

Steven Thompson
Former Rangers striker on BBC Sportsound

Rangers are being pinned back and the home fans are crying for a penalty as Christopher Nkunku wriggles away from Connor Goldson then hits the turf.

An emphatic 'play on' gesture from the ref...

The home side are out of the traps quickly and a fizzing shot from Konrad Laimer is blocked by a defender in blue.

French referee Benoit Bastien peeps his whistle and away we go.

Scott Mullen
BBC Scotland at the Red Bull Arena

Atmosphere inside this gaff is incredible.

The Rangers fans haven't stopped singing since their team came out, although there's already a pyrotechnic which has been set off in that section.

Anyway, Leipzig go into a huddle, which predictably goes down marvellously with the away support.

We. Are. Ready. To. Go!

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst was reluctant to reveal how his frontline will shape up tonight, but the Ibrox boss has told his player to embrace tonight's rare occasion.

"It's the semi-final of the Europa League," he tells BT Sport. "You don't get many chances to make the final.

"We've prepared well. I'm very proud of the players to reach this stage. They have trained well and they look very focused.

"We need two big performances, today and next week, to reach the final. We're missing some players but the ones that are involved will do everything to get a result."

The hosts fell to their first defeat in 15 games at the weekend, slipping to a surprise 2-1 loss at home to Union Berlin after beating the same team by the same score three days earlier in the cup semi-final.

Rangers are on a four-match winning streak, a run which includes a 2-1 victory over Celtic in the last four of the Scottish Cup - with 12 goals netted across those fixtures.

Image source, SNS

Rangers are not the only team to knock in four away to Dortmund, since RB Leipzig did the same thing earlier this month in a 4-1 league victory.

Domenico Tedesco replaced Jesse Marsch in December and Leipzig have won 16 and lost just three from his 24 games.

Last season's Bundesliga runners-up are a point behind third-placed Leverkusen, with three games remaining, so another crack at the Champions League looks likely.

They also have a German Cup final against Freiburg to look forward to.

Is that first trophy coming?

Scott Mullen
BBC Scotland at the Red Bull Arena

We're now getting some German rock song which has everyone twirling their scarves to such an extent this place may take off.

Rangers' pathway to the last four has been breathtaking.

Coming through as group runners-up after a sticky start, the Ibrox side stunned Borussia Dortmund 6-4 on aggregate, scoring four on a memorable visit to the famous Westfalenstadion.

They put three past Red Star Belgrade in Glasgow for an overall 4-2 success before recovering from a 1-0 loss in Portugal to deservedly get the better of SC Braga, again scoring three in front of their own fans.

Image source, SNS

Christopher Nkunku scored both goals in the 2-0 win at Atalanta in the quarter-finals, which clinched a 3-1 aggregate success.

Having dropped out of the Champions League, RB Leipzig were given a bye as Spartak Moscow were turfed out of the competition after getting past Real Sociedad 5-3 - again drawing at home and winning on the road.

Scott Mullen
BBC Scotland at the Red Bull Arena

Ah, that's a nice touch.

The Leipzig DJ going out his way to endear himself to the visiting masses by playing a few verses of Blue Sea of Ibrox. It seems to have gone down well.

Fair to say there's a good couple of thousand more in here than the hosts would have been planning for. The Scottish champions were given an allocation of around 2,500, but at least three times that are expected.

Image source, SNS

Big-spending RB Leipzig have enjoyed a meteoric rise in their mere 13 years of existence, making their European debut in 2017-18.

Their best run came in 2019-20 when they lost in the last four of the Champions League against Paris St-Germain.

Last season, they were dumped out of the last 16 in the Champions League by Liverpool.

Scott Mullen
BBC Scotland at the Red Bull Arena

This feels like something special tonight, and not just the cheese pretzels.

From two hours before kick off outside the Red Bull Arena, fans began to swarm. With around half an hour to go, the place is electric.

It's been a long road for Rangers. It's also been a long road for some fans, with one telling me it took him 27 hours to get here via Palma. Fair play to him for not just staying there...

The absence of Roofe and Morelos has done little to dent the party or optimism among the Rangers support who have spoken to BBC Scotland so far today. Equally, Leipzig fans come here expecting their team to take a big step towards their first ever European final.

Rangers failed to turn up in Braga in the quarters and had to launch an astonishing comeback at Ibrox. Can they do better here?

Image source, Scott Mullen

With so much talent at the hosts' disposal, it's hard to pick a player for Rangers to keep an extra close eye on, but Christopher Nkunku's numbers are pretty special this season.

The 24-year-old Frenchman scored seven goals in six Champions League matches and has three from four in the Europa League.

He also has 17 goals and 15 assists in the Bundesliga, along with three goals in the German Cup.

Image source, Getty Images

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer on Sportsound