Replacement Liam Kelly responded with a faultless display topped off by the penalty save.
Barry Ferguson hailed 10-man Rangers for putting pride back in the shirt and keeping their Euro dream alive with a Braveheart performance against Bilbao.
The interim boss watched his much-changed side produce a monumental backs-to-the-wall display to shutout the La Liga giants after Robin Propper was red carded after just 13 minutes.
Liam Kelly was the hero with a 79th minute penalty save after being handed his big chance with Jack Butland dropped for a series of clangers.
But Ferguson – who had accused his players of being “miles away” from a Rangers side in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat against Hibs – insists he had no failures.
And he said his squad will now head to Spain for next Thursday’s quarter final second leg full of belief they can finish the job and set up a massive semi final showdown with either Manchester United or Lyon.
The manager, who held clear the air talks with his players on Monday after the Hibs defeat, beamed: “I’m delighted for them and I’m proud of them. Standing in the touchline was a totally different feeling I had from Saturday.
“I felt empty on Saturday. But standing there at the side, I was proud of them.
“And that’s the way I need to feel. And that’s the performances and the effort that this group of players need to put in. I’ve told them, if you do that, you have better chances of winning games of football.
“That’s what I asked. And that’s what I got tonight. And that’s what I need to see going forward.
“What I’ve seen tonight out there was a team that took the instructions on. Obviously the chat we had on Monday really sunk in. They took the information in as well and that’s important.
“I think anybody watching the game tonight would have seen a team that will run through black balls for each other.
“We’re still in the tie. I said to them before the game, we need to make sure we’re in this tie. And certainly the tie is there for us to go in and try and get through at the semi-finals.
“We’ll go and give it our best shot. We’ll set it up in a way that it’ll try and get us, hopefully, into the semi-final.”
Ferguson admits he has no problems with Propper’s 13th minute red card after the Dutchman hauled down Inaki Williams on the edge of his box.
But the interim boss said the decision to drop Butland – the penalty saving hero of the last 16 win over Fenerbahce – was one of the toughest of his life.
Kelly responded with a faultless display topped off by the penalty save.
And Ferguson said: “It’s one of the toughest things I’ve had to do. Firstly, I think Jack Butland is a top goalkeeper. Secondly, I’ve got a very, very good relationship with Jack.
“I’ve known Jack a long time, he was a young kid coming through Birmingham when I went down to play for Birmingham in the Premier League. Thirdly, I’ve got to know it’s hurting Jack and I’ve got to be mindful of that as well. Because I care for him.
“I just had to make a decision and it was a tough decision when I spoke to him. I could see it was hurting. You go with decisions.
“It’s not one that I decided on Saturday night or Sunday. I thought long and hard about it. When I spoke to him, it was a tough 10-15 minutes conversation.
“But, listen, Jack’s still got a huge part to play here.
“In terms of Liam coming in, I thought he done well tonight.”
Teenager Bailey Rice was stretchered off after a clash of heads and Ridden Yilmaz limped off in the second half.
And Ferguson admits his squad is walking wounded ahead of Sunday’s trip to face Aberdeen.
He said: “I don’t even know how many players I’ve got available. I need to wait until tomorrow. We’re in tomorrow. There’s a number of guys struggling.”
