HIS decision to play Liam Kelly would have given him sleepless nights.

After this, Barry Ferguson could rest easy.

Jack Butland wasn’t happy about the Rangers caretaker boss’ decision to drop him for this Europa League quarter-final first-leg with Athletic Bilbao.

But 50,000 others at Ibrox were absolutely delirious.

The Scotland squad keeper justified Ferguson’s brave call to pick him with a crucial penalty save he’ll remember for the rest of his days.

In fairness to Butland, he was first out to congratulate his understudy for being the hero of the night after it was all over.

On a dramatic European night Rangers were reduced to ten men after just 13 MINUTES when Robin Propper was sent off.

The Dutchman sat shaking his head in the director’s after he’d been showered and changed.

Around him home support felt aggrieved that their centre-back had been sent off but in the cold light of day they’ll all realise it was the right call.

Inaki Williams was wiped out on the edge of the Rangers penalty box.

And had he not been then his next touch the ball would have been an effort on target.

Had the foul been a couple of yards close to Kelly’s goal the Romanian referee would have been pointing to the penalty spot.

And, ironically, Propper would have only been booked.

But the moment he prevented a clear goalscoring opportunity outside the box it was a red card offence all day long.

Put it this way, had it been up the other end the same home fans and Rangers-minded TV pundits would have been screaming for it.

It was just the last thing Rangers needed.

The odds were already stacked against them seeing off the La Liga outfit and getting some sort of result to take to Spain next week that gave them hope of winning through.

Here they were, just ten minutes into their crucial first-leg, and they were down to ten men.

It was so preventable too, the whole situation.

First Propper played a slack pass to Leon Balogun that put him under a degree of pressure in an area of the pitch that was asking for trouble.

He then played a weak pass to his left which was intercepted.

They both tried to retrieve the situation when the ball was flashed forward to frontman Williams, first Balogun diving in before Propper did the same and caught him.

At first it seemed like the kind of tackle that would be described as taking one for the team, when he was booked.

But VAR got involved and the ref was showing a red instead after a quick look at the pitch-side monitor.

It was a repeat of the Bilbao’s last tie, too, when their opponents Roma lost a man early on.

That was a decision which had Jose Mourinho hint at a conspiracy given the final is being held in their very own stadium.

What Ferguson needed was the bravery out on the pitch that he showed when picking his team.

Dropping Butland was a massive, massive call from the caretaker boss.

But, like the sending off, it was hard to argue with it.

The ex-England star has made so many mistakes lately that he’s become a liability.

Just because he’s a goalkeeper doesn’t mean he had any right to expect to be bombproof.

Ferguson talked before kick-off about how unhappy Butland was with the decision.

But in many ways he gave his manager little option.

It still heaped huge pressure on Kelly but the two stops he made seconds before half-time alone justified Ferguson’s judgement.

One he tipped over the crossbar, the other he held brilliantly.

Another bold decision was naming 18 year-old Bailey Rice in the starting line-up for only the second time of his Rangers career.

It was asking so much of the kid to cope with this level of European football but he had the legs, at least, to cover the ground that needed to be covered.

It was only when he suffered a nasty blow to the face after an hour that his game ended.

Rice required some lengthy treatment too before leaving the pitch on a stretcher with every supporter inside the ground up on their feet and applauding him as he went.

It was great to see Rice himself clapping his hands in appreciation.

The fact Rangers were level even by then was all down to their collective grit and determination.

They could even have gone ahead in the last moments of the first-half had Cyriel Dessers planted his header on target –  after being picked out inside the box by a sensational Vaclav Cerny free-kick – rather than missing by miles.

It was a really, really good chance.

Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde had to be more annoyed with the finishing from his side, though.

In 58 minutes attacker Maroan Sannadi was guilty of missing an absolute sitter from point-blank range.

There and then you wondered if this was going to be Rangers’ night after all.

But the big drama was still to come.

In 78 minutes Bilbao’s Alex Berenguer thundered the ball into the net to seemingly give the visitors the lead.

A VAR check showed he’d drifted off-side.

But instead it as ruled Dujon Sterling had handled the initial ball forward and Bilbao were to get a penalty.

Up stepped Berenguer – only for Kelly to make the save of his life.

• Rangers XI: Kelly, Tavernier, Sterling, Balogun, Pröpper, Yilmaz, Rice, Raskin, Hagi, Cerny, Dessers. Subs: Butland, Mcguire, Barron, Bajrami, Nsiala, Jefté, Igamane, McCausland, Curtis, McCallion, Danilo.
• Athletic Club XI: Agirrezabala, De Marcos, Vivian, Álvarez, Lekue, De Galarreta, Jaureguizar, I. Williams, Sancet, N. Williams, Sannadi. Subs: Unai Simón, Gorosabel, Paredes, Vesga, Berenguer, Djaló, Guruzeta, Nuñez, Gomez, Prados, Canales, Boiro.

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