Former Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde is a two-time La Liga winner [SNS]

Rangers are “one of the toughest teams” in the Europa League and they “could be favourites” for the competition, says Athletic Bilbao head coach Ernesto Valverde.

La Liga’s fourth-placed side face the Glasgow club in Govan on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.

Despite Rangers losing their last five games at home, former Barcelona boss Valverde is expecting a “big challenge”.

Responding to a question about interim Ibrox manager Barry Ferguson saying Athletic are “probably favourites” to win the competition, Valverde said: “Rangers are one of the toughest teams in the competition for me.

“[There are] arguments they could be favourites. It’s a knockout competition. I don’t like it when people talk about favourites.

“We’re a good team, Rangers are a good team. We have a lot of respect for them. You never have an easy game in Europe. I don’t think we can say we’re favourites.

“The pitch is where everything is decided. Rangers can hit us on the counter, they have some good players. At this level you can get punished at any moment.

“They can compete with any team and it’s only three years since they reached the final. It’s a big challenge playing in a stadium like [Ibrox] in a quarter-final.”