Rangers reaction: What was said on pitch about penalty claim, key man holds hands up, player wants Ferguson

Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers claimed that even Athletic Bilbao defender Dani Vivian believed that he had conceded a penalty in their Europa League quarter-final clash at San Mames.

There was a highly controversial moment just 16 minutes into the second leg when Dessers had his shirt ripped by Vivian when trying to latch on to a through ball. Refere Irfan Peljto waved the claims away and VAR Paul van Boekel decided it was not worthy of review.

Bilbao went on to win match 2-0 thanks to goals from Oihan Sancet and Nico Williams, progressing to the semi-finals on aggregate. But even one of their players admitted that the Basque side rode their luck.

Cyriel Dessers could not believe Rangers were not awarded a penalty kick in Bilbao. | AFP via Getty Images

"The ball gets deflected into the box, I wanted to make a run to it and I thought I could get to it, [but] my shirt got pulled," said Dessers. "Even if there's doubt, you can look at the shirt . I think it's a game-changer. But OK, that's football. We were on the wrong side of it. It hurts.

"I got the yellow card because I came back onto the pitch. I have no real explanation for that. After that, he [the referee] was kind to me, he showed some compassion as well. I spoke to the defender [Vivian] after, he admitted it was a penalty."

Captain James Tavernier took responsibility for the second Athletic Bilbao goal after he lost Williams at the back post and revealed what the referee said to him about the penalty appeal.

"He [the referee] said there was little in it," said the skipper. "But you saw his top, and it was ripped. It's one of those, it goes for you or it goes against you. I've got to give the boys credit for the energy they put into the game.

"The second goal is on me. I was organising and I switched off for the cross. It's two goals and you try to get yourself back into the game with ten minutes to go. It's a lot to do.

"We let the occasion get to us a little bit too much in the first half. We tried to address it at half-time. We conceded just before half-time. It put us on the back foot but we knew we had 45 minutes to address it. The boys tried to give it their all but it wasn't enough.”

Rangers interim manager Barry Ferguson. | PA

Tavernier backed interim head coach Barry Ferguson to land the job on a permanent basis amid reports of takeover from the 49ers being close.

"We have to reflect on this season because it's not been good enough, especially domestically, and we have to address that,” added Tavernier. “There's obviously going to be a lot of change within the club. We can only get better.

“I’ve been really happy since Barry came in. He’s steadied the ship and puts demands on us. He knows the DNA of the club, along with the staff he’s got. It’s not my decision but I’d love to have Barry for next season.

“Tactically with Neil [McCann] and Doddsy [Billy Dodds], they’re a great group who get right behind the boys and push us. It’s not up to me but it would be good to see them here.”