The German outfit defeated Rangers FC 5-4 on penalties to lift the Europa League title on Wednesday night.
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Oliver Glasner has coached Eintracht Frankfurt to its first European trophy in 42 years as the German outfit defeated Rangers FC 5-4 on penalties to lift the Europa League title on Wednesday night. It was an entertaining game of football as both sides played 120 minutes of grueling slugfest through the blistering heat at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville. Frankfurt’s night almost turned catastrophic when Joe Aribo capitalised on a defensive error and put the Scottish club in front. But Glasner’s side showed great fighting spirit to equalise through Rafael Borre. Both sides failed to find the winner in 120 minutes and the match went to penalties. The Eagles converted all of their penalties while Kevin Trapp managed to deny Aaron Ramsey from the penalty spot to clinch the trophy for Frankfurt.
A magical night in Sevilla ??⭐️#SGEuropa pic.twitter.com/HMO7l5XYB4
— Europa League Winners 2022 (@eintracht_eng) May 19, 2022
Glasner, who arrived from Wolfsburg, last summer has instilled a never say die attitude and unity in the team which is very essential in winning the knockout tournaments. The Eagles won a group containing Fenerbahce, Olympiakos and Antwerp before getting the better of Real Betis in the last-16 stage. And then, the quarter-final victory over favourties Barcelona made them the title contenders. Ansgar Knauff’s spectacular volley helped earn a 1-1 draw in the first leg at home before Barcelona were knocked out as the German club won 3-2 at Camp Nou in the return leg. The Spanish giants who were going through a resurgence and were in top form under Xavi, struggled to cope with Frankfurt’s high intensity game. West Ham were then beaten home and away in the semi-finals.
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There were lots of changes in the Frankfurt squad last summer. Some important players left, and new ones arrived, it took a few weeks until Glasner developed a team that played the way he wanted to. Although Frankfurt finished 11th at the end of the Bundesliga campaign, they have managed to qualify for next season’s Champions League courtesy of Europa League triumph. Meanwhile Glasner became the first Austrian coach to win a European trophy since Ernst Happel led Hamburg to the European Cup in 1983. The 47-year-old worked in Austria at SV Ried and Lask before joining Wolfsburg in 2019, helping them qualify for the Europa League and then the Champions League in his two seasons there.
Glasner didn’t have a great start to his life at Frankfurt, as they were dumped out in the opening round of the German Cup last august in a shock 2-0 defeat at third-division Waldhof Mannheim. Frankfurt were winless in Glasner’s first eight games. But things improved with a shock 2-1 win against Bayern Munich in October, only their second win onder the Austrian. Although Frankfurt arrived at Seville, winless in their last seven Bundesliga games, they saved their best for the european final.
Frankfurt started the match positively in Spain and created the first opportunity when Daichi Kamada beat a couple of players before Allan mcGregor blocked his close-range effort and quickly recovered to save Djibril Sow’s follow-up. Frankfurt continued to push forward and forced another brilliant save from Mcgregor to deny Ansgar Knauff. Although Rangers managed to create some decent chances at the other end, the first half ended 0-0. After the break, Rangers broke the deadlock against the run of play. Aribo pounced on a misjudged header from Sow, chasing defender Tute slipped, giving the midfielder a free run on goal and he slotted home past Trapp into the Frankfurt goal.
Just like the previous rounds, Frankfurt were not giving up and, after Kamada’s shot landed on the top of the net, Borre equalised. The striker got on the end of Kostic’s low cross from the left and poked the ball past McGregor at the near post into the back of the net. As players from both sides started to tire, Speculative shots were attempted but the keepers were alert to deal with it. In penalties, Tavernier, Steven Davis, Arfield made no mistake from the spot before Ramsey sent his effort into the arms of Trapp. Borre then slammed home the decisive penalty to win the Europa League for Frankfurt.
