Forty-two years after their first European title and a decade after slipping into the German second division, Eintracht Frankfurt won the Europa League on Wednesday by beating Glasgow Rangers in the final in Seville on penalties (5-4, after 1-1 in 120 minutes). It was the second European title in the history of the German team (it succeeds Villarreal, winner in 2021, in the history of the competition), after the triumph in the so-called UEFA Cup in 1980, a feat who has the tasty plus of giving direct entry into next season’s Champions League groups and as a top seed.
Second in the Scottish League against 11th in the German League wouldn’t exactly be the most desirable poster for a European final – perhaps UEFA would prefer a Barcelona-RB Leipzig, two of the teams killed by the finalists. But Rangers and Eintracht were at Sevilla on their own merits in a final of particular significance for both. Both had gone from winning in Europe, and a decade ago neither was even in the top flight – in 2012 the Germans were in Bundesliga 2, Glasgow Protestants had fallen to the Scottish fourth tier.
In Wednesday’s game, the Germans seemed more inspired, with more desire to attack and shoot, as we noticed from the first minutes. Djibril Sow had a first try on 12 with the 40-year-old McGregor confident in the Scottish goal, but Asgar Knauff was more spectacular in his attempt on 20 for an equally spectacular save from the veteran Scottish keeper . .
In the 26th minute, just before the hydration break, essential to fight against the heat in the Andalusian capital, Joe Aribo gave the signal for the Scots, with a strike which passed very close to Kevin Trapp’s goal. The answer came with an individual movement from Kostic, who collected the ball near his area and took it into the opposite goal. Since he had no company from anyone on his team, he fired to the side.
The game was in the stop and respond phase. Lundstram, Rangers central defender, almost scored with a header from a free kick in the 36th minute. None of these moves prevented the match from going to half-time with a 0-0 on the scoreboard, which was justified, despite the slight ascendancy of the German team.
The trend seems to continue in the second half, but it is the Rangers who take the lead at 57′. Trapp was not competent to put distance between his goal and the ball and shock his defense. Sow also didn’t handle the situation well and as he was about to try and reach for the ball, Eintracht’s Brazilian centre-back Tata tripped over himself and left Joe Aribo at the back. easy. Facing Trapp, the Nigerian international did not fail and put the Scots in front.
With just over half an hour to rectify the mistake, Eintracht went more aggressively into the attack – coach Oliver Glasner threw plenty into the attack, leaving Portugal’s Gonçalo Paciência on the bench – and won the prize at 69′. On a good move from Kostic down the left, the ball traveled into the box on a trajectory that caught Santos Borré with space between the centre-backs. The Colombian only had to stretch his leg to equalize – another important goal for the former River Plate striker, who had already scored at Camp Nou in a 2-3 win that eliminated Barcelona.
The meeting slowed down the offensive dimension of the match a little. No one wanted to take risks, let alone make mistakes, and both sides got to blowing and managing the minutes. Nothing happened until the late 90s, and the 30 minute overtime was not much different. The exceptions came at 118′, when Trapp closed with a close-range shot from Kent, and at 120′, when Tavernier, the team that scored, tried to score from a dangerous free-kick. .
But the final in Sevilla, like last year’s final, was a penalty shootout. Three accurate penalties each and, in the fourth for Rangers, Ramsey missed the first. Kostic scored soon after, giving the Germans the lead. Roofe equalized from 11 yards out anyway, but Borré, who had scored the equalizer, took the penalty that gave Eintracht the title.