ATHLETIC BILBAO last night warmed up for their crunch clash with Rangers with a 3-1 comeback win over Rayo Vallecano.

Ernesto Valverde’s side fell behind after 37 minutes but Oihan Sancet levelled from the penalty spot midway through the second half.

Nico Williams then netted a wonder strike for Athletic with ten minutes to go before Sancet sealed the victory in stoppage time.

The result maintains Athletic’s six point lead over fifth placed Villareal in La Liga.

Boss Valverde has now challenged his men to silence their Spanish media critics after the 0-0 first-leg draw at Ibrox.

He said: “I don’t know, I don’t understand, we haven’t been successful? If we score the penalty, it’s a different story.

“We didn’t create scoring chances against Villarreal in the game before that, but we did at Rangers.

“Rangers closed us down and defended really well.

“We didn’t get everything right, that’s true, but it was a better result than at Roma, where we lost the first leg.

“It was just that we couldn’t take advantage of the numerical advantage.

”We’re a team that attacks a lot, but sometimes we struggle to create chances.

“But we are definitely a team who are capable of scoring goals.”

The Spaniard was criticised by his homeland media after failing to score and win against a Gers side who finished the game with nine men after Robin Propper’s red card and Dujon Sterling’s injury.

Going into the second leg both teams will know they’ll have to go for goals this time to avoid facing more penalty drama if they want to progress to the semi-finals and meet Manchester United or Lyon.

With an influx of Scottish fans expected to travel over for the San Mames match on Thursday, police in the area are on red alert after experiencing trouble when Roma came to visit.

The Basquiat team are currently three points behind third placed Atletico Madrid who tonight face off against a soon to be relegated Real Valladolid side sitting adrift at the bottom of the table.

61-year-old Valverde is in his FOURTH spell as a player or manager for Athletic Club, and also managed Barcelona for three years who are in the driving seat to be crowned La Liga champions this season.

Barry Ferguson‘s men pulled off a comeback of their own in the lead up to the huge European match.

The final score at Pittodrie was 2-2 after they fell two behind against Aberdeen, again the Gers played most of the match a man down.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page