Eintracht Frankfurt claimed their first European trophy in 42 years after a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Rangers at the end of 1-1 draw in the Europa League final in Seville on Wednesday.
Oliver Glasner’s side were playing in their first European final since they beat Borussia Monchengladbach in the same competition in 1980 and they fell behind in the 57th minute when Joe Aribo took full advantage of some slapstick defending.
The Bundesliga outfit forced extra time at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan 12 minutes later, however, courtesy of Rafael Borre’s close-range finish.
Borre was the hero in the shoot-out as well, the Colombian slamming home the decisive spot-kick after Aaron Ramsey had seen his penalty saved by Kevin Trapp, who had brilliantly denied Ryan Kent late in extra time.
Allan McGregor denied Daichi Kamada from a tight angle inside the opening 15 minutes, before the Rangers goalkeeper superbly tipped Ansgar Knauff’s effort from 15 yards past his left-hand post.
Aribo whipped past the upright from 25 yards shortly after the midway point of the first half, while Filip Kostic dragged wide after running almost the entire length of the pitch.
Rangers looked the more threatening side as the first half wore on, with Trapp tipping over John Lundstram’s looping header and Ryan Jack lashing over from a promising position before the interval.
Jesper Lindstrom went close immediately after the break, before Aribo put the Scottish side ahead with a cool finish past Trapp after latching onto Djibril Sow’s backwards header, the Nigeria international benefitting from a slip by Tuta.
Eintracht restored parity in the 69th minute, though, when Borre stole ahead of Calvin Bassey to prod home Kostic’s superb left-wing cross.
Trapp made a remarkable point-blank save from Kent with two minutes left of extra time to ensure the game went to a penalty shoot-out.
After a string of superb efforts, Ramsey, who was brought on with just three minutes remaining, saw his tame spot-kick kept out by Trapp, setting the stage for Borre to slot home from 12 yards and send the travelling Eintracht fans into raptures.