Barry Ferguson's biggest Rangers call pays off amid lovely moment as 10-man heroics keep Bilbao tie alive

Ferguson is likely to reflect on his decision-making with some pride. The biggest call he made was to drop regular goalkeeper Jack Butland for his deputy Liam Kelly for the visit of the in-form Spanish LaLiga side who the coach himself labelled pre-match as the favourites for the whole competition.

Kelly, 29, was playing his first match since a February humbling by Queen's Park in the Scottish Cup. His only previous experience of European football was when in goal for Motherwell in a shock Conference League defeat by Sligo Rovers. Despite Butland's recent catalogue of errors, many saw it as a risk to drop him.

Kelly made a mockery of such suggestions. He was the hero at Ibrox in a gripping tie in which a dogged Rangers side played almost all of the match with ten men. Kelly made a number of smart stops but his save from Alex Berenguer's penalty on 82 minutes was the major moment. It ensured a goalless draw and an epic night ahead next week when Bilbao take the tie back to their San Mames home.

This was a proper backs-to-the-wall performance from Rangers, who continue to save the very best version of themselves for the Europa League. They lost centre-half Robin Propper just 13 minutes in for a foul on Inaki Williams that denied the forward a clear goalscoring opportunity. His yellow card was upgraded to red after a VAR check and Ferguson's gameplan and back-five defence was thrown out of the window. Nevertheless, his players showed great dexterity and diligence to adapt.

Defensively, there were very few failures thereafter. James Tavernier, Dujon Sterling, Leon Balogun and Ridvan Yilmaz creaked at times but kept Bilbao's much-vaunted wide players in Inaki and Nico Williams in check. Kelly bailed them out when required but the Spaniards were a shade underwhelming given the hype.

Teenage midfielder Bailey Rice was handed a start in midfield and the 18-year-old competed admirably before succumbing to a nasty head knock on the hour mark. It was another choice that paid off for Ferguson.

The biggest, though, was clearly the selection in goal. There was a lovely moment 20 minutes before kick-off, when Kelly walked off after his warm-up. Butland gave him the biggest of embraces and clearly wished him well. He knew how big a moment this would be for his deputy, even if we has hurting badly.

Rangers' cause was helped by the hapless finishing of Bilbao's main striker Maroan Sannadi, who missed a number of decent opportunities, the most presentable coming on 55 minutes when he inexplicably fired wide from a cutback. Bilbao got some joy down the flanks but their manager Ernesto Valverde will no doubt lament the lack of ruthlessness when playing for so long with a man extra.

The big moment came on 82 minutes when Bilbao thought they'd scored when Berenguer lashed home from close range after Kelly had denied fellow sub Gorka Guruzeta. A long VAR check ensued thereafter to deem that Berenguer was offside but Sterling had committed a handball offence in the box earlier in the move. A penalty was given and under a cacophony of jeers, Kelly turned Berenguer's effort over the bar with his legs.

It was just meant to be for Rangers. Even when Sterling came off during 12 minutes of stoppage time to leave Rangers down to nine men, they held firm. Ibrox roared its approval at full time. There is still life in this team and this tie.