The Romanian reckons the right decision would have given Barry Ferguson’s men more of a chance but it’s not why they lostEDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Luke Nickerson/Rangers F/REX/Shutterstock (15256553as)
Ianis Hagi of Rangers during the UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final Second Leg match at Estadio de San Mames, Bilbao.
Athletic Bilbao v Rangers, UEFA Europa League, Quarter Final, First Leg, Football, Estadio de San Mams, Bilbao, Spain – 17 Apr 2025

The burning injustice of the big calls that went against Rangers in Bilbao are going to take a few days to simmer down.

But for Ianis Hagi, it’s the anger at failing to give a proper account of themselves against awesome Athletic that will take longer to cool.

Barry Ferguson and his players felt they were hard done by in northern Spain, short changed by Bosnian ref Irfan Peljto as he waved away TWO Gers appeals for penalties.

Cyriel Dessers couldn’t believe it when he did not get a first half award after having his jersey ripped open by defender Yeray Alvarez – while Nico Raskin’s claim for a second-half handball after he fired a deflected shot against the woodwork was also turned down.

Both moments were key but in the end, Bilbao more than merited a win that takes Ernersto Valverde’s team another huge step closer to the Europa League final that will staged in their own stunning San Mames home.

While the La Liga sharp-shooters were lethal with the big chances they carved out – netting with Oihan Sancet’s spot-kick right on half-time before adding a late second from Nico Williams – it was slack and sloppy from the Light Blues.

Time and time again, Hagi and his Ibrox team-mates failed to do the simple things on the ball and Athletic were more than happy to accept the invitation to pile on Basque pressure.

And for the Romanian, that is what stings the most. Hagi said: “I’m disappointed obviously.

Dessers sees his shirt pulled but is denied a spot-kick

“They played better than us, I have to admit that but obviously, minute 15 away from home, you have a clear penalty.

“That would obviously help us, put us in an advantage in the tie to go through.

“Does that mean that we will win the game? No – but it’s disappointing.

“And then they just started playing so much better and I think they deserved the win in the end.

“But at this level, small details make the difference and that was that was a big detail.

“We are obviously disappointed, angry probably because we could have played better.

“I think Bilbao for 90 minutes were better than us, but that doesn’t take away the incident of the penalty, right?

“And disappointed obviously a little bit because we could have given ourselves a good chance to protect the result but as I said, that doesn’t mean that we would have won the tie, and we would have gone to the semis.

“And obviously anger because it was a good chance to win a trophy and we didn’t manage to do that…”

Skipper James Tavernier was similarly smarting, frustrated by the fact his side could not reach the heights of performance that had seen them storm to the latter stages of the competition for the second time in three years.

In Malmo, Nice and Istanbul, Rangers found an accuracy on the ball to match their intensity off it but this time Ferguson’s team were a yard slower all across the pitch.

“I’m really hurt with the outcome of the game,” said the captain. “First half I felt that we were a bit of a shadow of ourselves with the quality on the ball.

“We obviously limited their chances, we defended relatively well.

“But then we conceded a penalty just before half-time. We go in at half-time 1-0 down, but we knew we had gears to go up.

“We knew that our performance levels could rise because we’ve shown it in the past, especially the games before, the Fenerbahce game.

“So we were working on similar tactics to that. We thought we could respond, but I felt we didn’t do ourselves justice with that throughout the game. Ultimately, it cost us the match.

Ianis Hagi

“After conceding the penalty, you still have 45 minutes to go into the second half and respond.

“But the quality on the ball wasn’t as good as we know it can be. That’s the one that will hurt because it’s the quarter-finals and we know how much it meant for the fans, the club, our families, ourselves that we came up short.”

Winning the Europa League was always going to be a long shot for a Gers team that has found itself second best domestically by a distance.

Having surrendered hopes of catching Celtic for the league title, the Ibrox outfit now face a five-game trudge to the finish line as their bitter rivals close in on another Treble.

But Hagi insists there is still plenty for him and his team-mates to play for this term.

“For our pride, for the pride to represent the club as best as possible,” he said. “We won’t hide the way we underachieve the season, that is the reality.

“But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to show up for the last five games and go out there and win them.”

Now that Gers’ Euro adventure has come to an end, the focus of the Ibrox faithful will shift to the impending American takeover and the potential for huge change to flood down Edmiston Drive.

It remains to be seen if that overhaul will sweep its way up the Marble Staircase and into the manager’s office but caretaker boss Ferguson seemed to suggest he’d be happy to hang about next term in one capacity or another.

The former skipper was plucked from a role working as a club ambassador when asked to clean up the mess left by Philippe Clement eight weeks ago.

It looks like he’d rather return to that post than play second fiddle to another boss should he be overlooked to land the top job permanently.

But whatever Andrew Cavanagh and his partners from the San Francisco 49ers decide, Hagi will look back fondly on his time with Fergie.

“Yeah, I really enjoyed working with him and getting us so close to being in a semi-final,” he said. “It says a lot about him and his technical staff.”

Asked if he’d proved he can be the man to lead the team next season, Hagi said: “I think that’s a bigger question than what I can offer you. You have to just ask someone who’s in charge.”

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