Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Europa League clash between Athletic Bilbao and Rangers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
After playing out an eventful goalless draw in last week’s first-leg, Athletic Bilbao and Rangers battle it out once again in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final at Estadio de San Mames on Thursday night.
The winners of this contest on aggregate will take on either Manchester United or Lyon in the semi-finals at the beginning of May.
Match preview
© Imago
Despite playing for over 80 minutes (including stoppage time) with an extra man, boasting over 70% possession and preventing Rangers from registering a single shot on target, Athletic Bilbao were unable to come away from Ibrox with a victory after being held by a heroic Gers outfit in the first leg.
The Spanish outfit arrived in Glasgow as favourites and dominated proceedings after Robin Propper‘s first-half dismissal, but they were unable to get the better of Rangers goalkeeper Liam Kelly, who saved an 82nd-minute penalty from Alex Berenguer to keep the scores level.
Ernesto Valverde‘s side managed to end a sequence of three consecutive 0-0 draws in all competitions by securing a 3-1 comeback victory at home to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday, with goals in the final half-hour from substitutes Oihan Sancet (2) and Nico Williams helping the Basque-based side consolidate fourth spot.
Competing in a major European quarter-final for the first time since 2015-16, Athletic are aiming to reach this year’s Europa League final, held at their own stadium, for the first time since 2012 when they lost in the showpiece event to fellow Spanish side Atletico Madrid.
Athletic are the only team with a 100% home record in this season’s Europa League, winning five from five. However, on the last five occasions that they have drawn the first leg of a European knockout tie, they have been eliminated each time. Not since the 1976-77 UEFA Cup semi-finals against RWD Molenbeek have they drawn the first leg before progressing to the next round on aggregate.
© Iconsport
After watching his Rangers side lose their previous five home matches in a row across 90 minutes, Barry Ferguson was rightly proud of his team’s dogged display in last week’s first leg, but he believes that the Gers need to be “bang on the button” if they wish to prevail in Bilbao.
Rangers were required to grind out another draw with 10 men last weekend as they came from two goals down at half time to rescued a 2-2 draw at Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership, with substitute Ianis Hagi netting a dramatic 96th-minute equaliser.
The Gers are merely playing for pride in the top tier of Scottish football as they sit 15 points behind rivals and champions-elect Celtic at the summit with just five games remaining, while they are also 13 points clear of in-form Hibernian in third place.
Rangers are unsurprisingly focused solely on their quest to reach the Europa League final for the second time in four years, and although they have now failed to win the first leg in each of their last six European quarter-final ties, they have won the second leg in each of the last three such ties.
The Glaswegian giants, who are unbeaten in their last seven away matches in all competitions (W6 D1), have already celebrated success in Spain this season, as they beat Real Betis 3-2 in the League Phase of the Europa League in mid-December, having previously gone 13 games without winning on Spanish spoil between 1962 and 2008 (D3 L10).
Athletic Bilbao Europa League form:
Athletic Bilbao form (all competitions):
Rangers Europa League form:
Rangers form (all competitions):
Team News
Athletic Bilbao are sweating over the fitness of attacker Inaki Williams who picked up a muscle injury in the closing stages of last weekend’s win over Rayo Vallecano, while left-back Yuri Berchiche remains sidelined with a calf strain.
The potential absence of Williams could see his brother Nico begin on the right flank and Berenguer continue on the left, while Sancet is likely to replace Unai Gomez in the number 10 role as Maroan Sannadi continues to battle with Gorka Guruzeta for a place up front.
Julen Agirrezabala has been Athletic’s Europa League goalkeeper this term and is set to be recalled at the expense of number one Unai Simon, while Oscar de Marcos, Yeray Alvarez and Inigo Lekue may all return in defence.
As for Rangers, Dujon Sterling (Achilles) and Neraysho Kasanwirjo (knee) remain sidelined with injuries, while Propper is suspended following his first-leg red card.
However, the Gers will be boosted by the return of John Souttar and Mohamed Diomande who missed the first leg through suspension, with the former expected to replace Propper and join James Tavernier and Leon Balogun in the back three.
Jack Butland has been dropped in the last two matches following a run of error-strewn performances and he may have to settle for a place on the substitutes’ bench once again as Kelly is likely to retain his starting spot.
Nicolas Raskin and Connor Barron are set to continue in centre-midfield, while Diomande could be recalled to the first XI to link up with Vaclav Cerny – Rangers’ top scorer in the Europa League with six goals – in behind central striker Cyriel Dessers.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Alvarez, Vivian, Lekue; De Galarreta, Jauregizar; N. Williams, Sancet, Berenguer; Guruzeta
Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Balogun; Yilmaz, Barron, Raskin, Jefte; Diomande, Cerny; Dessers
We say: Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Rangers (Athletic to win 2-1 on aggregate)
Having already beaten Fenerbahce, Nice and Real Betis away from home in this season’s Europa League, Rangers will back themselves to pull off another upset on the road, and will hope to pose a greater threat in the final third with 11 men rather than 10 this time around.
However, Athletic Bilbao have been perfect on home soil in Europe and they will be regarded as favourites to come out on top in the second leg, even if their Scottish counterparts are to put up another fight.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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