Athletic Bilbao send message to Celtic before facing Rangers | OneFootball

Celtic are a unique football club and there are not many like them around. One team that does share some similarities with the Hoops though is Athletic Bilbao in Spain. The two clubs share a friendly relationship. Incidentally, the La Liga side are set to face the Rangers in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League.

There are no points for guessing which team Celtic fans will be backing in that tie. The first leg will be played at Ibrox and the second at San Mames.

Hopefully, that will give a slight advantage to Athletic Bilbao. Even if the tie goes to extra-time, the Spanish side will get to play those 30 minutes in front of a home crowd, something that the Rangers enjoyed against Fenerbahce in the last 16.

Interestingly, a couple of weeks before their first leg at Ibrox, Athletic Club have shared a beautiful post about Celtic on social media. It is about a game between the two sides that was played back in 2011. One that is remembered in Bilbao due to the friendly atmosphere between both sets of fans at San Mames and in the city.

Athletic Bilbao send message to Celtic before facing Rangers

Of course, Celtic fans will be hoping that Athletic Bilbao are able to get the job done against the Rangers this season. One has to imagine that the Spanish side are the favourites in this tie.

That being said, one cannot overlook the fact that the Rangers have pulled off some big results in the Europa League in recent years. In fact, they even made the final not too long ago.

Hopefully, there won't be a repeat of that this time around. It would defy all logic considering how bad the Rangers have been in domestic competitions so far this season.