Rangers Europa League dream was ended by Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames on Thursday night.
Rangers dreams of reaching another Europa League final were dashed in the Spanish night as Barry Ferguson’s side fell to a 2-0 second leg defeat against Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames.
It was goals from Oihan Sancet and Nico Williams in each half decided the game, though it was the controversial decision not to award Rangers a 16th-minute penalty when Cyriel Dessers shirt was pulled – then ripped – in the area, that took the bulk of the headlines.
The Light Blues were left incensed when referee Irfan Peljto was not called to his pitchside monitor by Dutch VAR official Paul van Boekel when Dessers torn by Athletic Bilbao centre-back Dani Vivian when trying to latch on to a through ball, while interim head coach Ferguson also felt the Spanish defender should have been sent off for the foul.
Rangers interim boss Ferguson admitted he side did not lack any desire, but felt their lack of quality it what cost them the tie against their star studded opponents, who will now face Manchester United in the semi-finals of the competition.
We look at how the Spanish media reacted to the game:
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Leading Spanish football website Sport.es had praise for Rangers midfielder Mohamed Diomande, saying: “They [Rangers] started aggressively with Diomande in the midfield, and plenty of mobility in attack. Athletic struggled to warm up, gripped by nerves. With the Europa League final is being played at the San Mames, their extra motivation worked against them in the opening minutes of the game.
“They even avoided a possible penalty. Dessers appealed for a foul in the box for a hold on Vivian . The Belgian striker was somewhat right, but neither referee Peljto nor the VAR intervened. The centre-back ripped Vivian’s shirt and, to top it all off, received a yellow card for his protests. It was the final wake-up call. From that moment on, the Lions roared, with Oihan Sancet ever-present.”
Marca.com also discussed the penalty decision on Dessers, saying: “The Rangers manager, the first to appear in the press room, can’t explain how the referee let Vivian grab Dessers, which ended up tearing his shirt , go unnoticed. What angered him most was that the move ended with a yellow card for Dessers for leaving the field without permission after changing his torn shirt.
They added: “Dessers went down in the box, complaining about a grab from Vivian. The referee had a clear idea of letting the grab go, which there was, but he interpreted the shirt grab as not having caused the striker to fall to the ground. The Rangers striker flew into a rage, as his shirt was torn and he couldn’t explain why no one had called for anything. Things got worse when the referee ordered him to change it… and booked him for returning to the pitch without permission. Several of his teammates went to ask him to calm down.
“Rangers made things tough, as the scoreline wasn’t decided until the 80th minute when Nico Williams headed in a cross from De Marcos. The Scottish wall—the one Barry, not Adriano, devised—fell with the approach of half-time. Sancet’s penalty put Athletic ahead at a delicate moment in the match. That was where the Lions’ superiority materialized, although Rangers’ solidity had been shattered twenty minutes earlier by Yilmaz’s muscle injury. The full-back, whom his coaches wanted near Nico Williams, relapsed with a problem he’d been carrying.
“Rangers had to redo their formation, moving their defenders sideways and exposing themselves too much on the flank defended by an out-of-place Diomande. The cracks surfaced, and Athletic continued to attack. Until a clear penalty from Souttar on Maroan led to Sancet’s goal.”
