Picture Credit: Twitter
Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rangers on penalties in the summit clash of the UEFA Europa League at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in Sevilla on Wednesday. Following a 1-1 draw after extra time, Oliver Glasner's side won 5-4 on penalties as Aaron Ramsey missed his spot-kick. The Rangers took the lead through Joe Aribo in the 57th minute. However, Frankfurt equalized 12 minutes later via Colombian forward Rafael Santos Borre.
The win has allowed Frankfurt to be crowned the Europa champion for the second time after it won its first title in 1980 (then known as UEFA Cup). As a result of this win, the Eagles have booked their place in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage for next season, despite finishing 11th in the Bundesliga this term.
Frankfurt also became the first German club since 1997 to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League. Schalke 04 was the last Bundesliga side to win this trophy. Former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey missed one for the Rangers, which was enough for Frankfurt to bag the title as the latter scored in all five takes.
Both sides had an enormous opportunity to score in the first half, but none could get lucky as the first half ended 0-0. The second half saw Joe Aribo finally opening the scoring for the Rangers in the 57th minute. He took advantage of Tuta's mistake at the back. The defender's slip led to the Nigerian racing towards the goal and slotting the ball into the bottom-left corner.
However, Frankfurt too scored an equalizer soon in the 69th minute when Borre got between the two Rangers centre-backs and notched on to Kostic's cross to net the ball home. This was the striker's fourth goal in the competition. Both the sides kept fighting it out hard, but the game went to a penalty shootout where Eintracht Frankfurt pulled off a stunning victory by 5-4 as Aaron Ramsey saw his penalty saved.
Here are the best Twitter reactions from Eintracht Frankfurt's win against Rangers in the final of the Europa League