Rangers v Athletic Bilbao: lineup, previews, statistics

Match previews of Rangers v Athletic Bilbao

The Rangers will need to turn the form of a scary house as they will continue to keep their Europa League dreams alive in Game 1 of the first semi-final against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.

Barry Ferguson’s men advanced to the final eight following a penalty shootout victory over Fenerbafe, but that levelled the tie 3-3 in the tally after a 2-0 defeat in the night.

That loss formed part of an unwinning run at Ibrox, which stretched into five games on Saturday as the Rangers were defeated 2-0 by Hibernian.

It is also a run made up of losses to Queen’s Park, St. Mirren and Motherwell, with the latest slip-up leading Ferguson, criticizing his players for not motivating themselves outside of old companies and European games.

“It’s not a Rangers team, it’s been miles since they were a Rangers team,” Ferguson said. “I’m tired of repeating myself. European and Celtic games are the easiest games to get up.”

Therefore, the Ranger, in theory, has no problem with being emotionally prepared for a visit to Lariga’s opponent, and it would probably be two outstanding performances that allow the Ferguson man to separate the upset.

The Athletics dropped points over the weekend, winning second straight 0-0 draws, setting themselves in a dead end with fellow Champions League Challengers Villarreal.

The athletics’ league form is paying tails, but the Basque side won only one of their final five Lariga games, but was impressive as they beat Serie A club 3-1 in the second leg Sammems to look back at the 2-1 first leg deficit against Roma.

At Nico Williams, the athletic has one of the hottest properties in European football, but his brother Inaki has scored five goals in the Europa League this season.

Finding fuel is unlikely to be a problem for rangers, but as the athletics pursue their dream of playing the finals at their home stadium, they definitely have an even greater motivation to make sure the extra quality conveys to the two feet.

Ranger v Athletic Bilbao team news

John Suter and Mohamed Diomande both have been suspended for the Rangers and joined Nereixo Casanwirjo, absentee from long-term injuries on the sidelines.

Left-back Yuri Bakitse suffered a calf injury due to athletic ability in a draw with Villarreal.

Ranger v Athletic Bilbao Predictive Lineup

Ranger: Butland, Tavernier, Prosper, Balogun, Sterling, Barron, Raskin, Gift; Bajrami, Cerny, Dessers

Athletic Bilbao: Simon, Gorosabel, Paredes, Vivienne, Boilo, Prados, Jauregiza, I. Williams, Sunset, N.

Ranger v Athletic Bilbao statistics

• Athletic has kept clean seats in one of five Europa League away matches this season.
• At the same time, the athletic scored in all the away games of the competition.
• At least two goals will be seen at all Rangers Europa League home games this season. Rangers hold a clean sheet in just one of those games.