By Alistair Aird
As the sun continued to shine in an evening sky bathed in blue, the Rangers supporters descending on Ibrox and the ones watching on TV would have been forgiven for asking what version of their erratic heroes they would be witnessing in the first leg of the Europa League quarter final.
Faced with an Athletic Bilbao side that was flying high in fourth place in La Liga, Barry Ferguson’s side had flapped and floundered in each of the matches of his interim spell in charge. We have witnessed no clean sheets, errors of the slapstick variety leading to the concession of cheap goals, a goalkeeper who has gone from great to gormless, and a centre forward that seems to think the best way to score a goal was to shoot directly at the opposition custodian rather than beyond.
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But there had been flurries of fortitude too. Rangers had come back from two goals down to win at Rugby Park and done the same against Dundee at Dens Park. In addition, there were two outstanding wins, 3-2 against Celtic at Parkhead and 3-1 against Fenerbache in Istanbul.
Yes, there was no doubt that the current version of Rangers would give Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a run for their money when it came to having a split personality.
The woe of a weak weekend loss at home to Hibernian had given rise to a summit meeting being called at the Training Centre on Monday. The fluctuating form simply couldn’t be tolerated anymore. Ferguson told the media that everyone present – coaching staff and players – had had their opportunity to speak. Details of the exchanges were to be kept in house, but one would assume – and hope – that they were frank. Ferguson seemed to allude to that, saying that training had been good in the aftermath. The foundations of our push for the last four had apparently been laid. The question was, would they be flimsy or firm?
Ferguson had hinted that he had made some big calls in his team selection. He would shoulder full responsibility for them. That was why the announcement of the starting XI’s around 75 minutes before the 8pm kick off was more highly anticipated than it may have been had that statement not been made.
And when the team lines did flash up on phones, there were more than a few gasps as the Rangers XI showed SIX changes from the Hibernian match. Two of the changes were enforced as John Souttar and Mo Diomande were suspended. Souttar’s place went to Leon Balogun and it looked like young Bailey Rice had been drafted in for Diomande. Jack Butland was dropped – a huge call from Ferguson even given the Englishman’s error-strewn displays of late – and replaced by Liam Kelly. Ridvan came in at left back for Jefte, and there were starts for Ianis Hagi and Robin Propper too. To say it was a bold move by Ferguson was the understatement of all understatements.
In fairness, the four players that had been left out – Connor Barron and Hamza Igamane were the others – could have few complaints. Recently, they had all been well short of the levels expected.
You could also have understood if Ferguson had replaced Cyriel Dessers with Danilo. It’s true that Dessers always finds himself in the right positions and Ferguson said that he would rather he was doing that than not being there at all. But in a tie when opportunities would be at a premium, could Rangers really depend on a striker who has taken only one of his last 16 chances?
The formation? Prior to the teams emerging there was an argument for 5-4-1, 4-5-1 or 3-5-2. There would be flexibility in any case. Tavernier and Ridvan would play as wing backs, tucking in to form a five when Rangers were defending then advancing forward when Rangers attacked. Rice and Raskin would be the central pairing in midfield, flanked by Cerny and Hagi.
Synonymous with nights under the lights at Ibrox is the fans bringing the noise. And anticipating another thrilling Thursday, the home support certainly did their best to assume the role of ‘the 12th man’. The stadium was at fever pitch when the teams, led by captains Tavernier and De Marcos, trotted out to the stand shoulder to shoulder behind the Europa League banner. Those filling the Copland Stand also unveiled a terrific Tifo featuring the Europa League trophy. The message was clear; we were once again dreaming of another date with destiny in Spain in May. It was now down to the players to see if they could make those daring dreams come true and in so doing exorcise some ghosts that had haunted what had been a horrible season thus far.
The opening exchanges were punctuated by a couple of loose passes from the Rangers defence. Nerves were understandable given what was at stake, but Vaclav Cerny did his best to calm them when he meandered in from the right. Bums were on the edges of seats as he manoeuvred into a shooting position, but unfortunately, he arrowed a left foot shot over the bar. It was encouraging, nonetheless.
Moments later, Bilbao should have taken the lead. Dessers was robbed on halfway, Tavernier overcommitted and suddenly Sannadi was in on Kelly’s goal. There was an audible sigh of relief when he tugged his shot across the face of goal and wide.
But there would be VAR controversy moments later. Propper was booked for a foul on Inaki Williams, but the referee was called to the screen and decided to rescind the yellow and replace it with a red as he felt Propper had denied a goalscoring opportunity. There were only 12 minutes on the clock.
It was now about keeping calm heads and chief among those who did was young Bailey Rice. Eyebrows had been raised when he had been selected in the starting XI, but he was composed and neat and tidy in possession. He didn’t look out of place at this stage of the proceedings.
Sannadi clipped the outside of the post as Bilbao threatened Kelly’s goal again, but he was flagged offside in any case. Rangers then surged to the other end, and after Cerny had a shot blocked, Dessers spun and fired in an effort that whizzed inches wide of the post.
The start to the match had been breathtaking. Both sides looked intent on attacking and Rangers didn’t look to have been too disadvantaged by the dismissal of Propper. Hopeless against Hibernian had very much been replaced by better against Bilbao.
Inaki Williams was the next to threaten for the visitors, his skewed shot being deflected away for a corner. But again, Rangers responded, forcing a corner of their own in the very next attack. It was cleared and suddenly a sea of red and white was surging forward. Kelly was on his toes, though, sprinting off his line to avert any danger.
At this stage, there didn’t seem to any sort of acceptance that Rangers would have to adopt a stoic rearguard action for the remainder of the game. They looked a threat on the break and were aided by the buzzbomb that is Nico Raskin. The Belgian was relentless and a proper nuisance for the Bilbao players, pressing high, closing down and snapping into tackles.
As half time approached, Liam Kelly then earned his stripes twice in quick succession. Attempting to clear, Leon Balogun took a swipe at the ball but succeeded only in directing it into the path of Sannadi. Kelly sprang across his goal and produced a fine one-handed save to push the ball over the bar for a corner. And from the flag kick, the former Rangers youth dived to his left to clutch a header from Sancet.
Bilbao threatened again in stoppage time after Tavernier lost out in a foot race with Nico Williams. The ball was fizzed across the penalty area, but Hagi, who hadn’t much, intervened to clear the danger. That roused the crowd and they watched play swing to the other end where Dessers had the ball nicked away from him by the outrushing Bilbao goalkeeper.
Ferguson hasn’t been slow in making changes at the interval since he took over, but there was no real need to do so on this occasion. The 10 players in blue had acquitted themselves well, dug deep and as a collective managed to stand up and be counted against a very accomplished side.
Bilbao forced a series of corners in the early part of the second half but none of then gave Kelly cause for concern. And frustration was starting to creep in for the Spaniards too, with Sannadi booked for simulation after he went down looking for a penalty when he was challenged by Balogun.
Bailey continued in a similar vein to the first half. He didn’t look overawed by the occasion at all. But he and all others in blue were thankful for the timely intervention of Dujon Sterling which thwarted an almost certain goal.
Rangers couldn’t get out at this stage and Sannadi missed a sitter from six yards, somehow missing the target when a strike on target would have broken the deadlock.
There was concern as the clock ticked on to the hour mark when Rice went down midway inside the Bilbao half. The physios were hastily waved on and spent time treating the youngster as he lay prone on the deck. A stretcher was called for and an eerie hush descended. It looked to be a bad injury as one of the physios looked to be stabilising Rice’s neck. The fact that no replays of the incident were shown by TNT Sports seemed to confirm that.
Fully five minutes elapsed before Rice was carried from the field, with Connor Barron taking over. Jefte also came on for a ragged Ridvan. The young Turk had been indecisive too often so it was the right move for Ferguson to make at this stage.
Bilbao continued to probe and press, popping the ball around without really creating a chance to trouble Kelly. At the other end, the ball wouldn’t stick for any length of time for a player in a blue jersey. Dessers was bustling around and trying to be the mischief maker but you had the feeling that perhaps Danilo or Igamane would offer a better out ball.
But out of nothing, Bilbao looked to have taken the lead with 14 minutes to go. The ball was played over the top and although Kelly did well to block the initial effort, he was unable to prevent Alex Berenguer hoovering up the loose ball. But a lengthy VAR check followed, and the referee was called to the screen to check for a possible handball. Confusion reigned but when the bedlam ceased, the goal was ruled out for offside, and a penalty was awarded to Bilbao!
Berenguer stepped up, stuttered and was denied by the outstretched leg of Kelly. We had just witnessed the maddest five minutes seen at Ibrox for many years!
Igamane replaced Dessers and suddenly there was some vim and vigour about Rangers. The players had almost emptied the tank, but would there be enough juice left for a final push for what would be a precious lead to take and defend in Bilbao?
As the minutes ticked down, Balogun did well to divert a teasing cross from Berenguer over the bar. The question now was: how long would be added? It was answered when the fourth official indicated that there would be TWELVE additional minutes!
Nedim Bajrami and Ross McCausland came on for Hagi and Cerny. Both had put in a strong shift just like everyone in a blue jersey had. For a team that had been pilloried for their recent performances, they deserved all the credit that would come their way for this one.
Dujon Sterling was helped off and with all five subs committed, Rangers faced the remaining minutes with only nine players. Tavernier moved into central defence and McCausland stepped back to play full back in a 4-3-1 formation.
As the clock ticked on to 101 minutes, Rangers won a free kick when Jefte was tripped. Tavernier swung it deep into the area and the ball was hacked away for a corner. The decibel level rose. Surely the nine men weren’t going eke out a winner?
The corner wasn’t taken. A madcap match was over.
All everyone connected with Rangers wanted was to still be in the tie going into the second leg. We very much are which sets up a tantalising Thursday next week. And with Bilbao at home and needing to come out, that might just leave gaps for Rangers to exploit on the break.
There will be Bears in Bilbao next week. And as things stand, there is still a decent chance that they will still be in the hunt and follow following their heroes back there for the Final in May too.
Madness, I hear you say? With this Rangers team, absolutely NOTHING can be ruled out!