Rangers sent packing in Bilbao
Oihan Sancet and Nico Williams were on target as Athletic Club beat Rangers 2-0 at San Mames to punch its ticket to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.
Having been held by 10-man Rangers at Ibrox last week, it looked like being another frustrating outing for Ernesto Valverde's men.
But Sancet's penalty deep into first-half stoppage-time saw the LaLiga side make the breakthrough and Spain's UEFA Euro 2024 hero Williams ensured there was no way back for the visitors.
For Rangers and interim boss Barry Ferguson, their season is essentially done, with an unlikely UEFA Europa League triumph their last chance to salvage something from a hugely underwhelming campaign.
Sancet was denied by Ridvan Yilmaz's stunning goal-saving block and Alex Berenguer bent wide as Athletic pummelled Rangers early.
Williams inexplicably steered wide after great skill from Maroan Sannadi but Rangers' luck ran out when John Souttar clattered Sannadi in the area on the stroke of half-time, with Sancet going low to the left to open the scoring.
Rangers did find more joy in the second half and Nico Raskin's close-range effort struck the left-hand post shortly before the hour.
But it was game over when star man Williams made it 2-0 with a thumping header with 10 minutes left to play, Hamza Igamane dragging wide in stoppage- time as Rangers failed to muster a consolation.
Failure to win here means Rangers has now failed to win four straight matches in all competitions, its worst run since a streak of five under Steven Gerrard in 2019.
It has been eliminated at the quarter-final stage of a European campaign for the first time since the 1987-1988 European Cup against FCSB, when it lost 3-2 on aggregate.
Conversely, Athletic has reached the semi-finals of a major European competition for the first time since the 2011-2012 UEFA Europa League under Marcelo Bielsa.
