Rangers ‘will be raging’ over UEFA announcement for Athletic Bilbao showdown
Rangers return to Europa League action against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
Barry Ferguson has enjoyed success in Europe since taking over from Philippe Clement on an interim basis.
His side will progress to the semi-finals if they beat the Spanish side after holding them to a 0-0 draw at Ibrox despite Robin Propper’s early red card.
However, their task may have been made harder after UEFA made an official announcement on the contest.
Rangers to fume at UEFA official announcement for Bilbao clash
UEFA have announced that Irfan Peljito will referee the crucial contest and he has history with the Gers.
The Bosnian was in the middle of proceedings when the Light Blues lost the first leg of their Champions League qualifying third-round clash with Union Saint-Gilloise in 2022.
Peljito awarded a controversial penalty against Connor Goldson in the loss and refused to overturn his original decision when footage showed it had hit Ben Davies first before bouncing onto Goldson’s arm.
Luckily for the Light Blues, they would go on to turn the tie around at Ibrox but the decision was still erroneous and they will not relish the fact that he is in charge.
Rangers need to make sure that decisions cannot hurt them
Given the history between the Govan outfit and Peljito, Ferguson’s side needs to make sure that any wrong decisions that he makes cannot harm them.
They need to ensure that their performance in Bilbao decides the result and not leave their progression to chance.
| Stats | Rangers | Bilbao |
| Possession | 29% | 71% |
| Shots | 4 | 19 |
| Shots on target | 0 | 3 |
| Big chances | 1 | 2 |
The competition is the Gers’ only chance to turn a dismal campaign under the Belgian into a brilliant one under a club legend and they must take it with both hands.
They bounced back from a strange penalty decision in the first leg with Liam Kelly pulling off a wonderful save and Ferguson cannot allow a similar incident to define the clash, as it may not go in their favour this time.
The Auchenhowie outfit need to have a lot more of the ball and create a lot more chances than they did on their own turf, if they let Ernesto Valverde’s side have control once again, they will likely suffer elimination.