Athletic Club manager Ernesto Valverde has predicted a more open tie against Rangers in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night. The two sides are locked at 0-0 after Rangers held out for a clean sheet in the first leg, despite being down to ten men after just ten minutes at Ibrox.
Los Leones are pursuing their first ever European semi-final, despite their illustrious domestic history – with of course the allure of the final at San Mames.
“They played a final (Europa League) against Eintracht no time ago, and only lost on penalties. We have to respect them, because of what they did in the first leg, and they also have a history to defend,” he told MD on Wednesday afternoon.
The veteran coach also predicted a different style of game, highlighting the Rangers counter-attack again.
“It’s a decisive, unique game. We’ve already played those games here this year, and we’d like to play our game based on their game plan.”
“I’d love for them to say that since we’ve done well, we’re going to play with ten men. They have a good counterattack and are a top team in their league, and in Scotland, they’re required to dominate. When you suffer a sending off, they’ll sit back and wait for their chances, and they did well. It will be a different game, an open one, with chances for both sides.”
Athletic are undoubtedly the favourites though, and Valverde acknowledged that the pressure was on them at home to get the business done.
“What we always try to do when these games come around is to use these kinds of things as motivation for us, to transform all of that into positive energy. There is of course pressure. We want all that energy to help us move forward, not block us,” he explained.
Meanwhile star winger Inaki Williams did not finish their game against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday night.
“He’s a doubt. We’ll see today’s training, as well as Yuri, and see how they are. I can only count on those who are 100% fit for such an important match.”
Williams limped off in stoppage time, but the general feeling in Bilbao is that he will be back in time. There is less certainty over left-back Yuri Berchiche, who is recovering from a muscle problem suffered two weeks ago. If Williams does miss out, Alex Berenguer is likely to take his place, while Inigo Lekue beat out Adama Boiro for the left-back spot in the first leg.
