In a city where the Guggenheim Museum of art and culture serves as a popular tourist attraction, this was a night when Barry Ferguson was hoping to perfect his own Rangers masterpiece.
Travelling away from home against the Europa League favourites, and with matters finely poised at 0-0 from the first leg in Glasgow last week, Rangers always knew they were huge underdogs at the San Mames.
Asking his team to dig deep and show some of the defensive fortitude that carried Rangers to the finals of 2008 and 2022, Ferguson never expected his team to paint pretty pictures.
But the task proved a bridge too far in this Basque bastion, with the artistry of the outstanding Nico Williams to the fore as Athletic Bilbao claimed a place in the semi-finals.
The Bilbao winger was the outstanding player on the pitch, bulleting a header past Liam Kelly with 10 minutes remaining to wrap up victory after a first-half penalty from Oihan Sancet had given the home side the lead.
Rangers were depleted by injuries and looked a side well beaten in the end. On this occasion, there were to be no madcap comebacks as witnessed previously in Ferguson’s interim reign.
Nico Williams wheels away to celebrate after heading in Athletic Bilbao’s second goal in Spain
Cyriel Dessers shows his frustration on a night when he had a big penalty claim turned down
It was the end of a journey which has featured plenty of highs in this European campaign, but 50,000 roaring Basque voices acclaimed a deserved victory for a stylish team who could well go all the way and win the final in their own stadium next month.
Rangers arrived in Bilbao on the back of a chaotic 2-2 draw against Aberdeen last Sunday, a match which had seen Ferguson make nine changes as his team fought back from two goals down to claim a point thanks to Ianis Hagi’s last-gasp equaliser.
Ferguson reverted back to his first-choice team here, with John Souttar and Mohamed Diomande both coming back into the side after missing last week’s first leg in Glasgow due to suspension.
Bilbao, meanwhile, came into the match with renewed confidence after a 3-1 win over Rayo Vallecano last Sunday night which saw them cement fourth place in La Liga in their pursuit of Champions League football next season.
The San Mames has been a real fortress in recent times, with Ernesto Valverde’s side beating Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid over the past couple of seasons.
For all that people often marvel at some of Bilbao’s attacking play with the likes of Williams and Co, they actually boast the meanest defence of any team in all of Europe’s top five leagues.
That statistic illustrated the scale of the task facing a Rangers team who had failed to score in each of their past two Europa League matches.
When the action got under way, a sea of red in the stands made for a noisy and colourful backdrop to this quarter-final tie.
James Tavernier takes instructions from manager Barry Ferguson in the San Mames Stadium
Ridvan Yilmaz was required to make a vital block to deny Bilbao’s classy midfielder Sancet from close range on eight minutes.
With his elder brother Inaki deemed not fit enough to start the match, Nico Williams was the chief threat out wide for the Basques.
A cheeky nutmeg and electric burst of pace saw him breeze past Yilmaz down the left and, after a one-two with Sancet, it was James Tavernier who flung himself to make another vital block.
This was Tavernier’s 100th European appearance and the Rangers captain had spoken on the eve of the match about the pain of losing the Europa League final in Seville three years ago.
Rangers always knew the odds were stacked against them in this second leg with the tournament favourites, but they were denied a decent shout for a penalty on 17 minutes.
Seeking to latch on to a pass inside the box, Cyriel Dessers looked like he had stolen a yard on Bilbao defender Daniel Vivian.
Vivian clearly tugged Dessers back, with enough force to rip a huge hole in the middle of his jersey. Bosnian referee Irfan Peljto saw no infringement and VAR did not intervene.
In that moment, Bilbao had got away with one. However, there was no doubt they were the dominant side as the first half wore on.
Rangers were forced into a major reshuffle midway through the first half when Yilmaz went off injured, with Jefte switching to the left side of the back three and Diomande deployed at left wing-back.
Camped deep in their own half for much of the opening 45 minutes, the pressure eventually told on them when they cracked and conceded the opening goal on the cusp of half-time.
Souttar was the guilty party, a clumsy challenge from behind sending Bilbao striker Maroan Sannadi tumbling to the ground.
Sancet stepped up to take the spot-kick and duly sent Liam Kelly the wrong way, with the Rangers keeper unable to reproduce the heroics which had seen him save Alex Berenguer’s penalty at Ibrox last week.
As they went in 1-0 down at half-time, Rangers hadn’t played badly. They had defended stoutly, but they knew they would have to open up at some point in the second half as they chased a goal to level the tie.
The second half began in disastrous fashion. Ferguson had chosen to take off Hagi at the break and replace him with young defender Clinton Nsiala.
Yet, just seconds after the interval, Rangers lost Leon Balogun after a nasty clash of heads with Souttar, depriving them of so much experience in central defence.
Nsiala was the main cover at centre-back on the bench and would have replaced Balogun had he not been brought on only moments earlier.
On the touchline, Ferguson slumped to his knees, no doubt cursing his luck. As it was, he was forced into another reshuffle, gambling and throwing on Hamza Igamane up front in place of Balogun.
Despite being down to the bare bones in some areas, Rangers came within inches of levelling the tie on 58 minutes.
Following a Souttar knockdown and an attempted bicycle kick from Dessers, Nico Raskin poked the ball towards goal from close range, only for Bilbao keeper Julen Agirrezabala to turn it on to the post.
It was a reminder that, for all Bilbao had dominated possession, Rangers were still very much in the tie.
The clincher came 10 minutes from time when some absolutely criminal defending from Tavernier saw the Rangers skipper switch off at the back post, allowing the outstanding Williams in to bullet a header past Kelly.
It was a night when Rangers could be proud of their efforts in reaching the quarter-finals, while acknowledging that the better team over the two legs had clinched a place in the last four.
