Mark Atkinson previews the first leg of Rangers’ Europa League quarter-final against Athletic Bilbao.
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00:00Hello from IROC Stadium. It's match day minus one ahead of Rangers' huge Europa League quarterfinal first leg against Spanish side Athletic Bilbao and Barry Ferguson.
00:13The Rangers interim head coach has just finished speaking to the media. He was in better spirits than the last time we saw him.
00:21Of course, he was a very frustrated, in fact, an angry man after he watched Rangers lose 2-0 to Hibs in the Premiership here.
00:29They're 50 feet in a row at their normally fortress-like Govan home.
00:35He said that the squad and the management staff had held clear-the-air talks and that training was now bubbly and that there was no moping around ahead of what this was a huge game for Rangers.
00:48Of course, they can't mope around. This is a massive opportunity for them.
00:52In the arena where they have saved some of their best performances, most observers are very surprised to see Rangers still in the competition in the last eight.
01:03They more than merit their place here, having taken care of some pretty big teams.
01:07The last time it was against Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce when they won on penalty kicks and they're going to need another pretty impressive performance to keep pace with this Bilbao team who currently sit fourth in La Liga.
01:19And Ferguson in his pre-match media duty said that this team are the favourites to win the tournament.
01:25That's a big tag he's put on them. Of course, the final will be held at Bilbao's San Mamez Stadium.
01:33And given the momentum that is building in the Basque country of what could happen, there is genuine belief that their team could do it.
01:42Of course, they'll have to deal with the difficulty of playing here at Hybrox on a Thursday night.
01:48Rangers tend to save their best performances and best results for Thursdays in Europe.
01:54And while it's very quiet here, save for a couple of workmen putting the finishing touches to the stadium,
01:59it's going to be a raucous atmosphere, one suspects, at eight o'clock on Thursday night.
02:04Rangers do have some selection issues.
02:06Ferguson promised that he would make changes to the team after losing to Hibs.
02:10But two alterations are enforced.
02:13Centre-half John Suter and central midfielder Mohamed Diamande are both suspended, so they can't play.
02:19A lot of the pre-match activity centred around whether goalkeeper Jack Butland would keep his place.
02:24He's made a catalogue of high-profile errors.
02:27Liam Kelly, his deputy, could come in, although Ferguson wasn't giving too much away there.
02:31And striker Cyril Desserts at the other end of the pitch has missed a hatful of chances recently.
02:37Although, again, he's played well in Europe.
02:39And one wonders whether he'll start, whether Hamza Igeman will lead the line,
02:44or whether Danilo, who hasn't been used very much, other to Ferguson, might come in instead.
02:51Ferguson did say that whatever decisions he will make, they have fallen on his shoulders.
02:57He almost hinted at a reset that happened after the Hibs match,
03:01saying this is the way we'll go between now and the end of the season.
03:04So it will be interesting to see what players do make the cut against what is an extremely strong Bilbao side,
03:12a team that plays a very British style of football.
03:14They can go long, they're happy to keep possession, they're happy to play physical and aggressive football.
03:20Many onlookers believe that this could be the end of the road for Rangers in their Europa League journey.
03:25But I would say this, don't count against this Ibrox side, given the history they've had in the competition recently,
03:32and the power of this place.
03:34Barry Ferguson will no doubt have his charges fired up, and you'd expect a reaction from what was a poor game against Hibs.
03:40Could Rangers lose six games in a row in this stadium?
03:43It's an almost unthinkable prospect, and I think most fans that will come here tomorrow night will just hope
03:48that Rangers put in a more spirited and disciplined performance than what we've shown of late.
03:54I'd say even the narrowest of defeats for a draw could be seen as a positive result for Rangers.
04:00When they go to the San Mames next week, they will need to still be in the tie.
04:03That will be some occasion.
04:05We'll have all the pre-match build-up, all of Ferguson's words and thoughts of Ernesto Valverde,
04:10the Bilbao coach, and then a pre-match analysis ahead of what is going to be a huge game,
04:15the Europa League quarterfinal first leg between Rangers and Athletic Bilbao here at Ibrox.