Athletic Club star forward doubtful for Rangers clash

On Thursday, Athletic Club host Rangers at San Mames in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie, and they may do so without the services of a key player.

Last week, the two teams played out a goalless draw in Glasgow, with Athletic unable to break down a resilient Rangers rearguard despite having a man advantage for well over 75 minutes. That was incredibly frustrating for Los Leones, but they will still fancy their chances to progress with a victory at home.

However, they could be forced to be without the services of Inaki Williams for the second leg against Rangers. As per Relevo, Athletic have confirmed that the Ghanian winger suffered an adductor injury during Sunday’s victory  over Rayo Vallecano.

“The player Inaki Williams had to leave the field before the end of the match played yesterday at San Mames against Rayo Vallecano after suffering an overload in the adductor muscles of his left leg.”

As a result, the older of the two Williams brothers is considered to be doubtful for the match on Thursday. But fortunately for Athletic, there is confidence that he will be available after a muscle tear was ruled out after medical examinations carried out on Monday morning.

Williams is known as being a player that suffers very few injuries, so his body is likely to be able to handle minor discomfort. So as long as there are no adverse reactions in the next 24-28 hours, the expectation is that he should be fine to play against Rangers, which would be a major boost to Los Leones’ chances of reaching the semi-finals, where they would face Manchester United or Lyon.

It remains to be seen whether Williams will be fit, but more information should be made available on Wednesday when Athletic head coach Ernesto Valverde speaks to the media, and also announces his matchday squad.