Over the course of this season of peaks and troughs Rangers have lost one Champions League game of ten played - that held in the ghostly atmosphere of a virtually empty San Siro in Milan.
There was an absolutely massive rangers support present in El Madrigal, with a presence on all sides of the ground with and estimated 15,000 fans having travelled to Spain, at least half of whom had managed to gain entry to the stadium.
Manager Alex McLeish made five changes from Falkirk with Ian Murray, Chris Burke, Hamed Namouchi, Thomas Buffel and peter Lovenkrands replacing Oliver Bernard, nacho Novo, Steven Smith, Kris Boyd and the suspended dado Prso. Villarreal were unchanged from the first leg at Ibrox.
Inspired by the unbelievable backing of the Light Blue legions Rangers made the early running with Buffel’s 18 yard drive from a Lovenkrands lay-off being turned wide by goalkeeper Sebastian Viera in six minutes.
The opening goal was merely delayed however - five minutes Peter Lovenkrands slotted the ball home after having first disposed Jose Josico, the Dane played a one-tow with Buffel and was on the spot to net after Barry Ferguson have challenged Viera.
Rangers now, for the first time, had the lead in the tie and Lovenkrands goal was only the Light Blues goal against Spanish opposition in Spain, Tommy McLean being the previous marksman 27 years ago.
Sadly some Rangers fans amongst the home support were led away by the police who had tolerated their presence up to the goal.
Amidst a host of yellow cards rangers controlled the play for the remainder of the first half although Ronald Watterus was called upon to make a fine save in 40 minutes, blocking Diego Forlan after the Uruguayan had sprung the offside trap from a Xavier Gonzalo pass.
On the stroke of half time Villarreal had a loud claim for a penalty when Marcos Senna tumbled upon a challenged from Ian Murray as both players went for a Riquelme cross but referee Alain Hamer of Luxembourg rightly waved play on.
Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegerini made two changes at the interval, underlining his anxiety at the way the first half had developed.
Four minutes after the restart the scores were level when Rudolpo Arruabarrena netted at the back post after Riquelme had freed Forlan down the right.
Rangers almost regained the lead in 53 minutes when the ball broke to Kyrgiakos from a Barry Ferguson free kick only for the Greek defender to shoot over.
Kris Boyd replaced Thomas Buffel ten minutes later but the half-time substitutions had given the Spanish club new life and a greater creativity.
Waterreus twice denied Guillermo Franco - firstly in 65 minutes when the substitutes volley from a Forlan head flick saw the Dutch goalkeeper make an instinctive save. Then two minutes later holding the same players header from a hector Font cross. Forlan was finding more and more space ads Rangers tried to push up in search of the vital second goal, and indeed the Uruguayan might have given his side the lead in 74 minutes when his chip from a Franco pass was just wide of the target.
The miss of the night occurred sixty seconds later however at the other end when a Chris Burke cross found Boyd at the near post only for the former Kilmarnock player to take his eye off the ball and make no contact.
Rangers piled on the pressure in the closing stages committing more and more men to attack. Namouchi was denied by Viera from a Kyrgiakos flick in 81 minutes.
Nacho Novo replaced Burke five minutes later as Villarreal employed every trick in the book to waste time.
Four minutes of injury time were extended to six because of persistent time-wasting by the home time, but the closest either team came to scoring in those agonising final seconds was when Franco volleyed over from a Forlan flick.
The Final whistle signaled wild celebrations from a home support who believed they are destined to go all the way to this years Final in Paris. At the same time it also signaled the end of the road for Ibrox manager Alex McLeish as far as europe is concerned.
Tonight’s performance may have ultimately ended in failure but it did show just what this Rangers team are capable of, leaving one to ponder exactly it has all gone wrong on the domestic front this season.
Alex McLeish afterwards stressed “I was extremely proud of my players performance tonight. We had a tremendous first half despite being totally written off. It is disappointing to exit but I would like to thank the Rangers fans for the energy they gave the players. Villarreal’s two half-time substitutions added tempo to their game.”
“We made a magnificent response to the loss of the early equaliser, we made chances and at least Kris Boyd was in the position to miss the chance. The CHampions League has been an excellent competition for both the players and the club. We came so close to a historic result, one of the best ever, despite not being the strongest financially left in the competition.
“Without a doubt tonight was one of the best Rangers performances in my time as manager. It is always difficult to win away from home. Villarreal showed their professionalism in the later stages of the game.”
Summing up his time in the hot seat Eck admitted “It’s been a tough job but one I have loved doing. I will stay at Ibrox until the end of the season unless someone tells me different. I will then take a break in the summer before taking stock.”
VILLARREAL (4-4-2): 13-Viera; 17-Javi Venta (14-Hector Font 45), 2-Gonzalo, 22-Pena, 3-Arruabarrena; 19-Senna, 18-Tacchinardi, 8-Riquelme (11-Calleja 85), 6-Josico; 5-Forlan, 23-Jose Mari (99-Franco 45)
Subs not used: 25-Barbosa, 7-Guayre, 16-Quique Alvarez, 30-Alcantre.
Bookings: Arruabarrena (22), Josico (39), Viera (51), Tacchinardi (52), Franco 87)
RANGERS (4-4-1-1): 25-Waterreus; 20-Hutton, 14-Kyrgiakos, 16-Rodriguez, 24-Murray; 17-Burke (10-Novo 86), 7-Hemdani, 6-Ferguson, 31-Namouchi; 4-Buffel (27-Boyd 63); 26-Lovenkrands.
Subs not used: 1-Klos, 2-Ricksen, 3-Bernard, 5-Andrews, 11-Rae.
Attendance: 23,000