Aaron Ramsey’s missed penalty proved the difference as Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rangers 5-4 in the shootout to win the Europa League in dramatic fashion.
It finished 1-1 after 90 minutes in Seville, with Joe Aribo’s opener cancelled out by Rafael Borre as Frankfurt responded impressively to falling behind.
Another 30 minutes was not enough to separate the sides with the scoreboard not troubled, sending the Europa League final to the spot for the second season in a row.
Ramsey, introduced in the dying minutes of extra-time, was denied by the legs of Kevin Trapp and Borre stepped up to make it five perfect penalties for Frankfurt and secure European glory for the German club.
Frankfurt started the match brightly, though their captain Sebastian Rode suffered a nasty cut to the head in the opening minutes after he was caught by a high boot from John Lundstram. The Rangers midfielder was fortunate not to be booked.
Allan McGregor was called into action twice in quick succession, to deny Daichi Kamada and then Djibril Sow, before the veteran goalkeeper tipped Ansgar Knauff’s effort behind for a corner.
Filip Kostic decided to take matters into his own hands and had a five-minute spell of operating a shoot on sight policy, failing to produce anything from it.
Rangers grew into the half and started to cause Frankfurt problems, with Aribo firing wide from just outside the box before Lundstram had a looping header tipped over as it finished goalless after a nervy 45 minutes.
It was almost a disastrous start to the second-half for Rangers, as Jesper Lindstrom’s deflected strike left McGregor completely wrong-footed, but everyone in blue was relieved to see it fly inches wide.
Just before the hour mark, Aribo sent the Rangers end delirious as he fired the Scottish side in front. Sow flicked a poor headed pass past his defence and when Tuta slipped at the worst possible time, Aribo was clean through. He took his time before slotting it past Trapp for the biggest goal of his career. (Standard)
