Eintracht Frankfurt have secured the UEFA Europa League title after edging Rangers 5-4 on penalties on Wednesday evening.
Jesper Lindstrom as the only change from Frankfurt’s draw against Mainz while The Gers brought back their regulars, the fresh legs of the likes of Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent and Scott Wright upfront.
Die Adler settled the better of the two sides, as Ansgar Knauff came close to giving them the lead in the 20th minute after cutting inside from his overlap and unleashed a low strike that forced goalkeeper Allan McGregor into a diving save.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s charges found their footing after the cooling break around the half-hour mark and had a good spell of possession but could only carve out half chances as the sides went into the half-time break deadlocked.
The German outfit were on the front foot in the opening exchanges of the second stanza and had a penalty appeal after Rafel Borre went down in the box following a challenge by Connor Goldson but the referee was not persuaded even after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review.
Rangers eventually broke the deadlock just before the hour-mark after a mistake at the back by Tuta, who slipped after a headed back pass by Djibril Sow allowed Aribo to surge through on goal and slotted a composed strike past shot-stopper Kevin Trapp.
Oliver Glasner’s men were fired up after that as Daichi Kamanda missed a sitter with only McGregor to beat, but Borre finally levelled matters in the last 21 minutes with a flick at the near post after a cross by Filip Kostic.