On Thursday, Athletic Club set up a Europa League quarter-final against Rangers after defeating AS Roma in the second leg of their round of 16 tie, and thus they kept alive their dream of playing in this season’s final, which is being held in their home stadium of San Mames.
Rangers made it into the last eight after a nervy penalty shoot-out victory over Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce, and they will be eyeing another giant-killing when they take on Los Leones over two legs next month.
Athletic head coach Ernesto Valverde was asked about the tie during his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Sevilla (via MD), and he admitted that his preference was to face the Scottish side, who are managed by club legend Barry Ferguson.
“I preferred to face a different opponent. We have already gone to Istanbul twice and we have played against Fenerbahce. I’ve seen something about Rangers on television but without going into depth. The first match is on the 10th (of April). There is time to scout them. Before that we have Sevilla, Osasuna and a very important match against Villarreal.”
Had Athletic been faced with Fenerbahce, they would have taken confidence from a 2-0 victory against the Turkish giants in Istanbul during the league phase, with the two goals in that match coming from Inaki Williams. With Rangers, Los Leones and Valverde will be going in blind.
It promises to be an enthralling tie, with two stadiums in San Mames and Ibrox being bear pits for Athletic and Rangers respectively. Winning in Bilbao could be very crucial for Valverde’s side, but before entertaining the possibility of that tie, they have crucial La Liga fixtures to consider first.
