The first legs of any competition are not my favourites to bet on, it is just half-time. Yet, here are my thoughts, and I am rather confident with this one.

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Rangers and Athletic Bilbao meet at Ibrox for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final. While the Basque side led by Ernesto Valverde enters the tie as clear favorites, Rangers remain a formidable opponent—particularly at home, where the atmosphere often lifts their performance. For the Glasgow side, a win on Thursday feels almost essential if they want to keep their European journey alive.

Having recently appointed Barry Ferguson as interim manager until the summer, Rangers have already seen their domestic hopes fade. The Scottish Premiership title is out of reach, and they’ve long since exited the domestic cups. Unless they can go on an extraordinary run in Europe, the season is headed for a trophyless end. Overcoming Athletic would already be a big upset, and tougher challenges likely await in the next round.

Team news - Rangers:

The home side will be missing Mohamed Diomande and John Souttar due to suspension, while Neraysho Kasanwirjo remains sidelined with injury. Ridvan Yilmaz was rested at the weekend but is expected to be fit and available. Rafael Fernandes is not eligible, he was gned on loan in January from Lille, he has hardly featured for Rangers and isn't able to be involved due to not being added to their Europa League squad.

Team news - Bilbao:

For the visitors, Yuri Berchiche is the only confirmed absentee. Adama Boiro is the likely starter at left-back, though Iñigo Lekue is also in contention.

Athletic Bilbao have never won a European trophy, though they’ve had near misses—the Marcelo Bielsa-led side, in particular, was memorable and entertaining. But this current squad may have the best chance in the club’s history. Winning the Europa League while securing a top-four finish in La Liga, which is looking more and more likely, could finally deliver that long-awaited moment of glory.

Bilbao in La Liga - 3rd best?

Valverde has played 170 matches for the club and is now in his third spell as head coach, having also held various other roles at different levels. In total, he has spent over 22 years with Athletic. He left in 2017 after guiding the team into the Champions League, joining Barcelona as Luis Enrique’s successor, before returning in 2022. Last season, he delivered Athletic’s first major trophy in 40 years—the Copa del Rey—and secured a fifth-place league finish, their best since the 2016–17 campaign, which he also oversaw.

This is very much Valverde’s team. He understands the club's culture and traditional playing style and has blended structured defending with dynamic attacking play. The team presses relentlessly—at a level Rangers won’t often experience in the Scottish Premiership—and Valverde is known for his tactical sharpness and in-game adaptability. While last season they finished 27 points behind champions Real Madrid, expected points metrics suggested the true gap was closer to 14. Coincidentally, that’s how far they currently trail Barcelona this season. For more than 20 months, they’ve performed at a consistently high level, and their style makes them especially well-suited to knockout competitions.

Rangers have often risen to the occasion in Europe, but the domestic gap to Celtic—currently 13 points—paints a challenging picture. They are still comfortably ahead of third place, but that lack of consistent high-level competition often shows in the latter stages of European tournaments. Despite being regular participants in Europe, this is only their third Europa League quarter-final in the last 45 years. They advanced in the previous two, but those seasons saw stronger league form—nine and twelve points better, respectively, than where they stand now.

Rangers have the heart and the home support, but Athletic are operating at a level that could see this tie swing heavily in their favor before the second leg. With a deep, confident squad and a head coach who knows exactly how to manage the moment, the Basques are not just hopeful participants—they are serious contenders for the trophy. This could be the season they finally write themselves into European history.

任何比赛的第一回合都不是我最喜欢下注的，这只是中场休息。然而，这是我的想法，我对此相当有信心。

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流浪者队和毕尔巴鄂竞技将在伊布罗克斯球场进行欧联杯四分之一决赛的首回合比赛。虽然由巴尔韦德带领的巴斯克球队进入决赛是一个明显的热门，但流浪者队仍然是一个强大的对手——尤其是在主场，那里的气氛经常提升他们的表现。对于格拉斯哥队来说，如果他们想继续欧洲之旅，周四的一场胜利几乎是必不可少的。

最近任命巴里·弗格森为临时主教练，直到夏天，流浪者队已经看到他们的国内希望破灭了。苏格兰超级联赛的冠军已经遥不可及，而且他们早就在国内杯赛上出局了。除非他们能在欧洲赛场上取得非凡的成绩，否则本赛季将以无奖杯告终。战胜竞技已经是一个很大的挫折，更艰难的挑战可能在下一轮等待。

球队新闻-游骑兵：

主队将因停赛而失去穆罕默德·迪奥曼德和约翰·苏塔尔，而内雷修·卡桑维尔乔也因伤缺阵。里德万·伊尔马兹在周末得到了休息，但预计他会康复并上场。拉斐尔·费尔南德斯没有入选，他是在一月份从里尔租借而来的，他几乎没有为流浪者队出场，而且由于没有进入他们的欧联杯阵容，他也不能参加比赛。

球队新闻-毕尔巴鄂：

对于来访者来说，尤里·伯奇什是唯一确认缺席的人。阿达玛·博罗很可能是左后卫的首发，虽然Iñigo勒库也在争夺之中。

毕尔巴鄂竞技队从来没有赢得过欧洲冠军，尽管他们曾经有过差一点的机会——尤其是马塞洛·贝尔萨率领的这支球队，令人难忘，也很有趣。但目前的阵容可能是俱乐部历史上最好的机会。赢得欧联杯冠军，同时确保西甲联赛前四，这看起来越来越有可能，最终可以实现期待已久的荣耀时刻。

毕尔巴鄂在西甲排名第三？

巴尔韦德已经为俱乐部踢了170场比赛，现在是他第三次担任主教练，他还担任过不同级别的其他角色。总的来说，他在竞技俱乐部效力了22年。在带领球队进入欧冠之后，他于2017年离开，作为路易斯·恩里克的继任者加盟巴塞罗那，并于2022年回归。上个赛季，他为马德里竞技带来了40年来的第一个重要奖杯——国王杯，并确保了联赛第五名的成绩，这是他们自2016-17赛季以来的最好成绩，他也监督了这一赛季。

这是巴尔韦德的团队。他了解俱乐部的文化和传统的比赛风格，并将结构化的防守与动态的进攻结合起来。球队无情地压迫着对手——这是游骑兵队在苏格兰联赛中不常经历的水平——巴尔韦德以他的战术敏锐和比赛适应性而闻名。尽管上赛季他们落后冠军皇马27分，但预期积分指标显示，真正的差距接近14分。巧合的是，这就是他们本赛季落后巴萨的距离。20多个月来，他们一直保持着高水平的表现，他们的风格使他们特别适合参加淘汰赛。

游骑兵队在欧洲赛场上经常奋起直追，但与凯尔特人队的国内差距——目前为13分——描绘了一幅充满挑战的画面。他们仍然轻松领先于第三名，但在欧洲锦标赛的后期阶段，缺乏持续的高水平比赛往往表现出来。尽管他们是欧联杯的常客，但这只是他们在过去45年里第三次进入欧联杯四分之一决赛。他们在前两个赛季都取得了进步，但那两个赛季的联赛成绩更强，分别比现在高出9分和12分。

流浪者队有热情和主场的支持，但竞技队的水平可能会在第二回合之前看到这场比赛对他们有利。拥有一支实力雄厚、信心十足的球队，以及一位知道如何把握时机的主教练，巴斯克人不仅是充满希望的参与者，而且是冠军奖杯的有力竞争者。这可能是他们最终将自己写进欧洲历史的一个赛季。