Shock injury crisis for Bilbao could hand Europa tie to Rangers | OneFootball

Let’s talk about the intriguing situation with Rangers and the possibility of Athletic Bilbao’s forward, Inaki Williams, missing out. Imagine this: Rangers are preparing for an all-important Europa League clash, and they catch wind of Williams potentially being unfit. Can you picture the collective sigh of relief echoing throughout Ibrox at such a prospect? It’s like having your least favorite cousin sit out Thanksgiving dinner—no offense to any cousins who might be reading. Yet you must empathize with the feeling (Lindsay & Petrie, 2025).

Inaki Williams is quite the player; if his lightning-quick feet and innate ability to turn a game on its head make it to the opposition’s ears, they begin to sense a bit of dread. A nice bit of dread. Rangers have managed to put themselves in a decent position despite their recent struggles, thanks to a goalless draw with Bilbao in the first leg of their quarter-final. I say “decent” because, while a nil-nil draw isn’t much to write home about, it’s also a lot more than what many imagined Rangers could do in the first leg, given their recent run of form. (And if we’re being honest, a heroic penalty save by goalkeeper Liam Kelly is also a factor that shouldn’t be left out.) They managed to make a “decent” into an “heroic” and have given themselves a platform—if not quite a springboard—from which to launch into the return leg.

What implications does this have for Rangers going forward? They’re currently riding some inertia from the recent draw, and now they know that there’s a chance they’ll be facing a team without one of its best players. This is like playing poker and suddenly getting a look at your opponent’s hand; you see that the hand isn’t so hot, and yours is a lot better—especially if you consider it, you know, a decent hand. Is the kind of confidence boost Rangers need to help them push through? Well, only time will tell, but for now, the knowledge of Williams’s possible absence adds a lot of intrigue to the case (Custom).