Jose Mourinho warned Rangers that overcoming Athletic Bilbao would prove to be difficult in more ways than one.
Following Fenerbahce's exit from the Europa League at the hands of Barry Ferguson's men last month, the Special One insisted that the La Liga side were a 'stronger team' than the Scottish Premiership giants.
The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager also aimed a sly dig at Bilbao, pointing out that the final of this year's competition will be held at their stadium in Spain.
He highlighted this after Bilbao progressed to the quarter-finals with a home leg victory against 10-man Roma, another of Mourinho's former teams.
In his post-match press conference, he said: "Anything is possible in football. But I played against Bilbao in the league phase, and Bilbao is a stronger team.
"And the final is in Bilbao. The road to Bilbao.
"I don't know what happened today with Roma, I just know that after 10 minutes, Roma were playing with 10 men.
"So, honestly, I think if Rangers do it against Bilbao, it would be phenomenal because it's going to be very hard."
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Only now will this resonate with Rangers fans after what unfolded during the early part of Thursday's first leg.
Robin Propper was sent off after only 13 minutes during Rangers' 0-0 draw against Bilbao last night.
The Dutchman was given his marching orders for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
The defender was initially cautioned for a foul on Inaki Williams on the edge of the box.
However, after a VAR review, referee Istvan Kovacs changed his decision and issued Propper a straight red card.
Had the foul been inside the box, then Propper would only have been shown a yellow card rather than a red.
Despite playing nearly the entire game with a man disadvantage, Rangers prevailed with a draw and will now head to northern Spain with the belief they can clinch the tie in the second leg.
