Eintracht Frankfurt met Rangers in the 2022 UEFA Europa League final at the Seville’s Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium on Wednesday.
After knocking out Real Betis, Barcelona and West Ham in previous rounds.
Kevin Trapp was again Frankfurt’s hero in the final — when he saved Aaron Ramsey’s spot kick ( Rangers’ fourth). as the Germans were flawless in their execution, converting all five.
Rangers took the lead following Joe Aribo’s goal — as the Nigerian midfielder produced a 57th-minute opener but Rafael Santos Borré leveled about 12 minutes later for the Bundesliga outfit. The game had finished 1-1 after 120 minutes of regular and extra time — Rangers were beaten 5-4 on penalties.
Frankfurt are the first German side to win UEFA Cup/UEL after 25 years. The wait was over — the first German winners of the Europa League. Schalke were the last German team to lift the trophy under its previous name UEFA Cup, in 1997.
Eintracht came out clean by winning the tournament without losing (D6, W7 ), after beating Barcelona and West Ham, among others along the way to their 2nd European title since 1980.
Oliver Glasner’s side become just the third team to win the competition without losing a game — Chelsea in 2018-19 and Villarreal in 2020-21.
And despite being the 11th-best in German Bundesliga, they have also gained automatic qualification to the Champions League for the first time since 1960.
Trapp winning the Man of the Match tells a lot about how impressive he was keeping Frankfurt alive till penalties.
After four years at Paris Saint-Germain Trapp returned to Frankfurt — and so far this season, he has won a European trophy (unlike his former employer) — What a step.
