The Times’ Michael Grant thinks Athletic Bilbao’s style of play could suit Rangers as the sides prepare to meet in the Europa League quarter-finals.
The first leg at Ibrox is on Thursday before the return leg in Spain next week and Grant says Rangers have nothing to fear against Athletic, who sit fourth in the Spanish top flight.
They beat Roma across two legs in the previous round, while Rangers got the better of Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.
“You look at it and you would think that Athletic Bilbao would be a step too far, but how many times have we thought that?” Grant said on the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast.
“They’ve done it against teams that you thought that this is going to be too strong for them.
“Athletic Bilbao are interesting and they’re strong. don’t think they’re brilliant though, it has to be said. I watched their game against Villarreal at the weekend. It was fairly flat to be honest with you.
“Their last three games have been 1-0, 0-0, 1-0-0. So I’m not sure there’s going to be awful lot of goals at Ibrox. And that’s probably going to suit Rangers because not only are they a good Europa League team, they’ve been a good away Europa League team.
“And they might think, well, if we are still in this game after the first leg, then we’ve got a fighting chance in Bilbao next week.”
