Athletic Bilbao vs Rangers preview and what club need for Europa League progress
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00:00And we'll move on then quickly to Rangers.
00:04We won't delve too much into this game at the weekend.
00:06Obviously, it was a bit of an on-entity, really, for Rangers.
00:10They, of course, had to avoid defeat to ensure that Celtic didn't win the trophy at the weekend.
00:17It was Leighton Clarkson and Papi Guy had Aberdeen 2-0 up to Hamzaigaman.
00:22And a late Giannis Hadji, a spectacular Giannis Hadji finish in the 96th minute,
00:28salvaging a draw.
00:30Ross McCausland got sent off for Rangers.
00:32This was our Rangers side.
00:34Barry Ferguson making wholesale changes on the back of that goalless draw
00:38against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League last Thursday.
00:43We knew he was going to heavily rotate that team.
00:47There's been a lot of chat around the importance of Europe, of course, for Rangers now,
00:52given that the league is over for them mathematically.
00:57Going into this game on Thursday night, the tie very much finally poised.
01:03Do you think many players that started that game against Aberdeen at the weekend
01:07have put themselves in the window of starting in Bilbao?
01:12I think they've probably put them in the shop window for going to other clubs.
01:16Yeah, I mean, the starting team, it just showed the lack of depth.
01:21And, you know, there's been a talking point of how poor is this Rangers team.
01:25I actually think they're starting to live in when it wants to.
01:28I mean, it's proven in Europe that they can be a decent team.
01:31But beyond that, I mean, it's so poor.
01:36Oscar Cortez is one they've got an obligation to buy.
01:38I mean, it's just anonymous for four to five minutes.
01:42I appreciate he's obviously been out for a long time with injury
01:44and he's still probably getting up to speed.
01:46But we're now in April.
01:49You're beyond the point of it being of any relevance, to be honest.
01:53Danilo, again, has been fit for a fair while now.
01:56Hasn't made much of an impact.
01:58And I just, I was just so devoid of anything.
02:03I think that's, I mean, it's just such a bizarre team.
02:06I mean, I think they've gone down 2-0 or been down by two goals.
02:11It's Dundee, Hibbs, Motherwell, St Mirren.
02:16Who else?
02:17They've basically been down two goals to everybody they've played domestically.
02:21And then under Barry Ferguson's reign,
02:23the only teams they've not been too down to at any point in the game
02:26is Fennibatry, Athletic Bilbao and Celtic.
02:29You must be banging your head off a wall in terms of, like,
02:33how is this happening?
02:35Like, these teams are not good,
02:36as the teams were managing to get points off of.
02:39So, it's a game that sums up Rangers this season,
02:41really, going into that game.
02:44You know, absolutely defying all sort of footballing logic.
02:47Look, down and out.
02:48Show really good character to get back.
02:50And you wouldn't put it past them to go and beat Bilbao on Thursday.
02:52You really wouldn't.
02:53You know, there's already the stories of, you know,
02:56one of the Williams brothers has picked up an injury.
02:58The Europa League, you know,
03:00pecs they've got over that competition is beginning to start its magic again.
03:04And it just feels like it's set up for them to go through.
03:07I know I said it last week as well.
03:09I just cannot see.
03:11It does not matter if that same team that got absolutely smashed off Aberdeen
03:14in that first half goes out and plays.
03:16I know it won't be.
03:17There'll be multiple changes.
03:18But, yeah, I just can't, again, I can't see anything but Rangers going
03:24and doing the business in Bilbao, whatever way that comes out.
03:28Because I just think it's been that season that it's set up for them
03:31to just defy all sort of logic again.
03:35Yeah.
03:36I think probably deep down, I know the Spanish press,
03:39in terms of reaction to the game, were, you know,
03:42very critical of Bilbao failing to, of course,
03:45break down a 10-man Rangers team having Robin Proper sent off early in the game.
03:49You know, they played with a man advantage for 80 minutes overall.
03:54Were you expecting a bit more from them at Ibrox?
03:57And do you think they'll be a different animal,
03:59given they're back on home soil?
04:01And, of course, we touched on it in the last show,
04:05the final being played at the San Mammies next month.
04:09I think you probably do expect more of them.
04:12But I think, again, going back to this thing with Rangers in the Europa League,
04:15probably expected more of Leipzig, probably expected more of Dortmund.
04:19Probably the only, there's only been a couple of teams in the last few years
04:23that have came to Ibrox that you would say right there.
04:25Or, and I mean, Bilbao are a decent team,
04:27but I mean, in terms of there's not decent teams that have came to Ibrox
04:30and just folded.
04:31I think probably Lyon, if you're looking beyond sort of Bilbao.
04:35Lyon are kind of the only ones who have came in the last few years,
04:38or one of the only ones who have came and sort of shown
04:40at the Europa League level anyway.
04:42They looked streaks ahead at a Rangers.
04:45Everybody else they've looked a match for in a one-off game.
04:50I mean, over the course of it, I know, if you were to compare the two squads
04:53then you would need to see Bilbao is stronger.
04:55But I do think there maybe is something to be said now
04:58for the European experience that this sort of team has built up, weirdly.
05:04I know it's a lot of different players, but you've still got the likes of Tavernier
05:08and Hadji who have been in and around this squad for a while, Balogun as well.
05:13So you would imagine they would be an improved outfit,
05:17but again, they didn't score against a Rangers side conceding goals at will
05:23to inferior opposition.
05:25They didn't score past them in 80-plus minutes when they were playing a man light.
05:29So I think if Rangers manage to keep it tight for the first half,
05:36then I can see them.
05:37You know, Serial Deathers has missed 14, 15 chances in a row now.
05:40He's due to score one.
05:41So I can see Rangers going over there and scoring.
05:43It's just a case of can they manage to be defensively solid enough
05:47to keep Bilbao out.
05:49Well, we'll find out on Thursday.
05:52The winner, of course, going on to play either at Olympic Lyon
05:55or Manchester United in the semi-final.
05:59We'll leave it there for today.
06:00Thanks very much to my colleague Ben Banks for joining me
06:03to round up all the latest news.
06:05Stay tuned for more National World Football Talk.
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