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The Scotsman
  • 10/04/2025
Mark Atkinson and Graham Falk at Ibrox.
Transcript
00:00A nil-nil draw here at Eibox in the Europa League quarterfinal first leg, but certainly not a boring nil-nil.
00:08No, a really gripping night of football here between Rangers and Athletic Bilbao.
00:13As you say, nil-nil after the first leg.
00:16I think given the drama that unfolded, the fact that Rangers played most of the game with ten men,
00:21following the red card to Robin Brokker, and the fact that Bilbao missed a penalty with ten minutes to go,
00:27Ferguson will be delighted to have the tie all square going into next week's second leg at the Sandman.
00:32And Graeme, you can hear the fans at full time there applauding the team off the pitch,
00:37apart from what it was like just five days ago against Hibs when they lost so meekly 2-0.
00:43It's a Rangers team that continues to baffle, isn't it? We see so many different sides to them.
00:48It's just Rangers on a third night in Europe. There's something that seems to happen like a sprint of the magic,
00:53I don't know what it is, but I mean, you know, they're showing their appreciation then.
00:56I think the biggest thing is, look, after 13 minutes of Robin Brokker gets sent off,
01:00you're already down Diamonde, you're already down your best centre-half arguably,
01:03and John Sutton, you've got that game last Saturday, sorry, where it wasn't good enough.
01:09Barry Ferguson said it wasn't good enough. He's kind of read the right act a little bit,
01:13but he's been justified, Liam Kelly, not a bad night.
01:16Yeah, I mean, he said before the match that the big calls would rest on his shoulders,
01:20and he actually hinted that he would make some changes.
01:22We still weren't 100% convinced that Jack Butler would be dropped for a catalogue of errors,
01:26but he has been.
01:28Liam Kelly outstanding tonight, impeccable handling, number of big saves,
01:31the biggest one obviously being the penalty stop for Alex Berringer.
01:36He played really well tonight, but I also think calls like Bailey Rice in midfield.
01:40He quitted himself really well before succumbing to quite a nasty injury.
01:44And, yeah, he got his team and his tactics pretty much spot on.
01:48I'd still make Bilbao favourites, though.
01:50They weren't that great tonight, Bilbao, but I think they're a much better team
01:53back at their San Mamez home, and it's going to be such a tall order for Rangers to go there and get a result.
01:58But you can't write them off in Europe at the moment.
02:00Again, we saw how gutsy they are in this competition, really mature performance.
02:06And, yeah, I can't wait for next Thursday.
02:09I mean, they've got Aberdeen on Sunday first, which will be, who knows what will happen in that game.
02:13But, yeah, they'll be delighted with the way that they've navigated this first leg.
02:17Yeah, absolutely.
02:18And I think there's many players you can pick up to having great performances,
02:21like Tabney, Bilbao.
02:23I thought there was loads of really good performances on there,
02:25but you took it correctly on Bailey Rice, who didn't look overall at all.
02:28A real shame to see him get injured at the end there.
02:30Yeah, it looked a nasty headlock, but at 18 years old,
02:32I mean, that was a really good performance against them.
02:34A midfielder likes to dominate the ball.
02:36So, yeah, all in all, a really impressive night for Rangers.
02:41But still, loads of work to do in this tie.
02:43It's going to be a really difficult evening in the Basque country.
02:46But, look, they're alive for a chance.
02:48Won't, Michael?
02:49Absolutely.
02:50Cheers, Gabriel.
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