ERNESTO VALVERDE insists Rangers are one of the favourites to WIN the Europa League. La Liga high-fliers Athletic Bilbao are the bookies' top tip to lift the trophy in their own stadium on May 21. But after Barry Ferguson highlighted that fact, Athletic boss Valverde was quick to point out his team face one of the toughest tasks left in the quarter-finals. Speaking at Ibrox ahead of the huge Europa League clash, 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 and they’ve got a good team. "They move well across the pitch and are very fast. "A lot of modes of play and they can hit us on counter attacks. "They have players like Dessers and Cerny who can play well. "They can compete with any team and only three years ago reached the final. "It's a big challenge playing in a stadium like this in the quarter-final." Despite sitting pretty in fourth in the Spanish top-flight, Bilbao have failed to hit the net in back-to-back goalless draws with Osasuna and Villareal. Valverde, who managed Barcelona to consecutive La Liga titles in 2018 and 2019, has plenty of experience in the dugout. And the 61-year-old is confident the Basque outfit can hit their straps again in Govan tonight. Valverde said: "We’ve not managed to score in our last two. "But you have to look at things overall, not just the last two games. "Have we lost fluidity? I don’t know. "But we’re going to try and score. We want to fashion opportunities. "It would be good to win here and we’ve come to try and win the game. "Of course, it’ll be the 90 minutes next week which will be decisive. "Tomorrow is a huge test for us. "They’ll want the defeat they had on Saturday off their backs. "We have to be competitive to get a good result." Rangers head into the tie on the back of a record-breaking five-game losing streak at Ibrox. Having seen the Light Blues perform better in Europe than domestically this season, Valverde is still expecting the best version of Ferguson's side despite their recent troubles. Valverde, who lost the UEFA Cup final to Sevilla while Espanyol boss at Hampden in 2007, said: "For Rangers, I view that as something extraordinary - the run of losses. "It's never happened before. "I watched Rangers against Hibs, they had more chances but didn’t make the most of them. "Rangers are a good team at home. Let's see what Rangers show up tomorrow. "Of course they’ll try and dominate the game. "When they press high, they have a lot of aggression. "I'm expecting the best version of Rangers." Like Valverde, defender Aitor Paredes aimed to distance Bilbao from the favourite's tag. The Spain international expects Gers' rotten home form to actually fire up a packed Ibrox this evening. Parades, 24, said: "I don’t like it when people talk about favourites. "We’re a good team and 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 and the pitch is where everything is decided. "I really want to see the atmosphere. "Having lost the last five the crowd will be up, especially as it’s in Europe. "We’re going to have to be at our best. “They can hit us on the counter and have some good players. "At this level you can get punished at any moment." Parades also echoed his gaffer's belief Bilbao, nicknamed the Lions, will find their form in front of goal again in Govan. He said: “We have loads of desire going into this game. "We want to do a good job, show what we can do and show our style of play. “I think there’s no doubt about our capacity to create chances and score goals. "We’re not losing confidence in our style of play. "Let's see if we break that bad spell tomorrow." Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page