The tactical & mental reasons behind Jekyll and Hyde Rangers

Europa League quarter-final, first leg: Rangers v Athletic Bilbao

Venue: Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Date: Thursday, 10 April Kick-off: 20:00 BST

Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & Sounds, plus follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app

The fact you need to try to make sense of a season that has been so inconsistent domestically yet so impressive in Europe tells you everything you need to know about this Rangers squad.

On paper, European games as well as Old Firm matches seem the hardest because you are playing against a better standard of opposition - but they are the easiest games to get up for.

Against any other team in Scotland? That is when there is expectation to win. That is when the fans are on you. There are 20 minutes to go, it's 0-0 or you are getting beaten. The pressure is heaped on you. Have you got it in you to stand up and be counted?

That is what makes or breaks a Rangers player. And, in this squad, there are not enough players with the mentality to get through those periods. That for me is where this squad is at - and that is the aspect that has let them down.

'European games bring different expectation'

That is separate to the technical attributes of these players, though. They are good footballers. They have shown that in European games. They have shown that against Celtic.

It was only last month they knocked Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce out of the Europa League and went to Celtic Park and won for the first time in years.

But those games bring a different pressure. They bring a different expectation. Going into big European games, especially in the knockout rounds, rarely is there expectancy on Rangers to win.

Meanwhile, domestically, they simply need to win, win, win. Their tempo needs to be high. They need to commit more bodies forward.

How many times have you watched a Rangers game where their two centre-halves are in the attacking half against one striker? That is because, in basic terms, they have to commit more in an attacking sense.

But you are at risk if you lose the ball. Just look at Hibernian's second goal on Saturday. It comes from a point where Rangers' defensive-minded players are in Hibs' half.

In Europe, you will rarely see that situation with a Rangers team, because they have more focus on the defensive side of their game.

'Rangers more at ease playing on counter-attack'

The easier thing to do in football is be a defensive team. That is what I think this Rangers team are more comfortable doing. They feel more at ease playing in a defensively organised team that can then counter-attack.

Why is it easier? Well, in those moments, you are not coaching a set pattern to break a team down. When that is your gameplan, inevitably when you get possession, the opposition are not set up to be broken down.

These Rangers players are intelligent footballers. They get the gameplan of stopping the opposition and being clinical on the counter. They have shown that under Barry Ferguson away to Fenerbahce and Celtic playing in a 3-4-3 set-up.

In those games, when Rangers have won the ball, they have been in positions to score goals because even when they are sitting deep in a defensive formation, they always have three attackers forward.

Defensively, they have more players deeper in the pitch and enough bodies to defend. And, in the attacking sense, having one striker and two number 10s means it is not just Cyriel Dessers or Vaclav Cerny running forward themselves.

Rangers' average player positions in last month's 3-1 win at Fenerbahce (left) and Saturday's defeat at home to Hibs (right) show a stark contrast between where their defensive line typically sits in European and domestic games

'Technical Bilbao will be Rangers' toughest test'

That approach did not work so well in the home leg against Fenerbahce, or the first half of their league game at Dundee, when they were perhaps expected to take the game to the opposition.

But for Thursday's encounter with Athletic Bilbao, I feel the first leg being at home should suit Rangers.

Most European games that are two-legged affairs, particular in the latter stages of competitions, the first leg is always more cagey. It will probably be accepted a bit more by the Ibrox crowd if Rangers are a bit more solid.

Rangers would bite your hand off to go into that second leg in Bilbao at 0-0. But, make no mistake about it, this will be their toughest European game to date this season.

They are going to face a seriously technical team who are fourth in Spain's top flight. They have a top, top coach like Ernesto Valverde - a two-time La Liga winner as Barcelona boss - and they play with good tempo in their approach.

That is their model and how they play, so expect their set-up behind the ball to be really good if counter-attack opportunities arise for Rangers.

There is no getting away from how big a task this is for Ferguson and his unpredictable players, but that is not to say they cannot hurt them - they can.

Former Rangers striker Steven Naismith was speaking to BBC Sport Scotland's Nick McPheat