Credit: Imago

Dan Godfrey

Fri 14 March 2025 8:40, UK

Rangers produced yet another memorable European night at Ibrox by securing a place in the last eight of the Europa League.

Yet another exciting journey in this competition is propping up Gers’ campaign under Barry Ferguson as he has overcome Jose Mourinho over two legs and via a pulsating penalty shootout.

Jack Butland came up trumps at Ibrox with the heroics of two shootout saves, setting up a tie with Athletic Bilbao – where the final takes place on 21 May.

Mourinho had been predicted to turn tie around

Rangers did it the hard way – as admitted by skipper James Tavernier in his post-match interviews – but certainly had the backing of many in the shootout once it got the nod for the Copland Road stand.

Fenerbahce had the momentum of clawing back the two-goal deficit they suffered from Gers last week in Istanbul, and fans could have been forgiven for thinking back to the two disallowed Cyriel Dessers goals which would have given them an unassailable lead to take home to Govan.

As it turned out, none of it mattered, as Ferguson’s men held their nerve better than their Turkish counterparts and set up a quarter-final tie with the host city of the final.

Graham Spiers of The Times posted on X [13 March] to not only praise Rangers, but admit that he thought before the second leg kicked off that Fenerbahce would turn the tie on its head and go through.

“Well done Rangers. Very well done Jack Butland. This was the scary Ibrox drama I thought it would be,” he described.

“To be honest, before kick-off I expected Jose Mourinho and Fenerbahce to pull this off. Huge credit to Rangers, last eight in Europe.”

Rangers cannot afford hangover heading to Celtic

Rangers and Fenerbahce both had the luxury of no domestic game last weekend, which enabled them both to focus solely on each leg of the tie with a full week of preparation for Thursday night at Ibrox.

No such leniency from the football calendar is blessing Gers this time, who in just two days’ time head across to Celtic Park for the latest edition of the Old Firm.

Ferguson has played in countless derbies down the years and has explained how he is drilling into the squad that it takes “more than being a good player” to represent the Light Blues.

That Rangers DNA will be crucial to snatching a result from the green side of Glasgow, with Celtic now solely concentrated on the league for at least the next month until their Scottish Cup semi-final.

Alongside them in the last eight of the Europa League are Rangers’ previous league phase opponents Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who each won their second legs convincingly enough to eliminate Real Sociedad and AZ Alkmaar respectively.

This to-and-fro season at Ibrox goes on, and Ferguson has added a major string to his bow – beating a man who rarely has more trophies in his cabinet than he does. Maybe the first managerial piece of silverware is far closer than Ferguson envisaged some weeks ago.