Villarreal 2-2 Rangers: Kyle Lafferty's strike secures valuable point in Spain

If the flight here amid the gusts of Storm Ali had left Steven Gerrard with 'sweaty palms' as he called it, then the turbulence of this thrilling contest would have had his hands wringing wet and his dress shirt soaked through.

Much like Wednesday's journey, Gerrard must have felt like adopting the brace position when Villarreal opened the scoring after just 43 seconds.

But twice Rangers trailed and twice they recovered to claim a deserved point on their return to European group-stage football after an eight-year absence.

They should even have won it when Scott Arfield - scorer of the first equaliser - strode clear in injury-time only to see his low poke saved.

Gerrard had his head in his hands after that agonising miss but he will take this, especially given the nightmare start.

Twenty-four hours earlier he wore a wry smile when reminded of their solidity on the continent, conceding just once in four away matches during qualifying. 'If it ain't broken don't fix it,' he grinned.

But if Gerrard thought he had the winning formula for European success then it did not take long to shatter those foundations in the land of the ceramic tile.

Pablo Fornals looped a hopeful ball forward towards Carlos Bacca, who made a nuisance of himself around centre-backs Joe Worrall and Connor Goldson and got his reward when the ball bounced favourably 25 yards out. Given the infancy of the contest he had nothing to lose by swinging a boot and the Colombian hit the jackpot - as well as the back of the net - as the ball sailed over a stunned Allan McGregor.

It was the first time Rangers had trailed in Europe but, rather than panic in unfamiliar territory, they resisted what had looked like being a tide of pressure from the Yellow Submarines.

Their passing was still sloppy, so much so that Gerrard flung himself back in his seat after one ball from Ryan Kent to Borna Barisic rolled wastefully out of play.

But at least they remained in the game and that proved vital as Arfield levelled on 67 minutes. James Tavernier burst into the area and the skipper's purpose allowed Daniel Candeias to square for the midfielder to hook in from close range.

Just like at the outset, however, parity was a precarious existence for the visitors and within two minutes they were behing again when a sweeping cross-field move was climaxed by Gerard Moreno after he accepted a pass from Santi Cazorla and arrowed into the bottom corner.

But back Rangers came. Gerrard has drilled into his men a spirit which sees them refuse to give up on any cause and so they were level once more on 76 minutes following a breathtaking counter, teenage substitute Glenn Middleton freeing Barisic down the left and he whipped to the near post where Kyle Lafferty was arriving to hook home.

Arfield was then denied from eight yards but, at the other end, Bacca headed inches wide with seconds left on the clock.

Rangers, though, have take-off in Europe, and Gerrard will settle for that.