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Rangers in penalty shoot-out heartbreak as they lose Europa League final

1 year ago 148

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Rangers have been denied a historic victory after suffering penalty shoot-out heartbreak in the Europa League final.

The Scottish club lost the spot-kicks 5-4 against Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville following 120 minutes of a closely-fought game.

Rangers went ahead courtesy of a Joe Aribo goal with a crisp low finish on 57 minutes.

Joe Aribo (in blue) scored Rangers' first goal

The German side levelled matters 12 minutes later when Rafael Santos Borre prodded the ball in past keeper Allan McGregor.

The match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes and went to extra-time.

Despite chances for both sides, the deadlock could not be broken and the final was decided by penalties into the end filled with Rangers fans.

It was 3-3 before Aaron Ramsey's spot-kick was saved by Kevin Trapp, handing the advantage to the opposition. Ramsey had been brought on as a substitute for the Glasgow team after 117 minutes of the game.

Filip Kostic scored Eintracht's fourth penalty despite McGregor getting a hand to it.

The Gers' Kemar Roofe made it 4-4 but then a stunning penalty into the top corner by Borre sealed the victory for the German side.

Eyewitness: Tom Parmenter, sports correspondent in Seville

All week Rangers legends have been lined up to plead with their fans to behave themselves in Seville.

Ally McCoist, Richard Gough and Graeme Souness the list goes on - they all knew this could become a nightmare for the club if it descended into drunken violence like it did in Manchester the last time Rangers were in a major European final in 2008.

Many fans felt it was patronising, but it may have had an effect - Seville was different. Not perfect, but it was the way a major European final should play out.

There were 160,000 fans from both sides in the city and remarkably just a few isolated incidents - one flashpoint in the mid-afternoon heat descended into chair throwing but it soon fizzled out.

The Spanish police were prepared and expected more - but this was nothing like Manchester.

While many Celtic fans, and other rivals, expected and even hoped the Rangers fans would let themselves down, the vast majority heeded the warnings and just came to revel in the moment.

After 2am in a hotel bar we watched Rangers fans swapping shirts and comparing moobs with Eintracht Frankfurt fans who were toasting their victory.

The heat of Seville and the drama of the game sapped all of their energies.

They still drank some bars dry, sang until they could sing no more, but this was progress for Rangers, both on and off the pitch.

About 100,000 Rangers supporters had travelled to the Spanish city, most without tickets.

But in the event they ended up with about two thirds of the 42,000-capacity Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium.

It was Rangers' 19th game in Europe this season and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst's side now have to get themselves ready for the Scottish Cup final against Hearts at Hampden Park on Saturday.

Rafael Santos Borre scored the winning penalty for Eintracht Frankfurt

The last time the Ibrox club won a European final was 50 years ago when they beat Dynamo Moscow 3-2 to claim the Cup Winners' Cup in 1972.

Rangers were most recently in a final on the continent in 2008 when they lost 2-0 to Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup.

Wednesday night's game came just over a decade after Rangers entered administration, resulting in the club dropping down to the third division in Scottish football.

For Eintracht, it was their first title in Europe since triumphing in the 1980 UEFA Cup against Borussia Monchengladbach.

The victory also saw them qualify for the Champions League next season despite finishing in 11th place in the Bundesliga.

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