A great, atmospheric evening of football ended in jubilation for Eintracht Frankfurt. The Hessians defeated Glasgow Rangers 6-5 on penalties in the final of the Europa League. After extra time, it was 1-1 (0-0) after 90 minutes.

The game had started with a moment of shock for Frankfurt. There were five minutes played on Wednesday when blood flowed. Sebastian Rode ducked after a bounced ball, Glasgow’s John Lundstram hit the Eintracht captain in the head with the studs. After a long break in treatment, Rode, who had a bandaged head, took off his bloody jersey, put on a new one and we continued.

It was already clear before the kick-off that at the end of a strenuous season it would be a duel in which mentality would play a major role. It was almost 30 degrees at the start of the game in Seville.

The Scots started as one would expect of them: robust in the duel. The Frankfurt countered and showed that they are the playful team. Consequently, the Hessians had the first chance.

In the 12th minute, Djibril Sow’s shot was saved by Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor after a nice dribble by Daichi Kamada. A little later it was McGregor again who thwarted a big chance from Ansgar Knauff.

Shortly before the first drinking break, in the 26th minute, the Frankfurters didn’t pay attention for a moment. Glasgow’s Joe Aribo found a free shot from 20 yards out and just missed. It was one of the few signs of respect from the Scots in the first half.

On the other hand, Frankfurt came close to taking the lead twice alone thanks to Filip Kostic. There was no doubt: Eintracht was the better team. Stupid only from the point of view of the Bundesliga club was that it was 0-0 at the break.

The zero number didn’t spoil the mood after 45 minutes. The supporters of both clubs cheered their teams loudly. The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville can only hold 40,000 spectators. Far too little for the rush. There were around 120,000 Rangers fans in the city and around 60,000 from Frankfurt. They would all have liked tickets to the final.

However, the meeting of the followers did not remain free of violence. Dozens of fans from both sides attacked each other just before the game.

These missed, among other things, like Frankfurt’s Jesper Lindström shortly after the restart with a shot from the turn just missed the 1-0 for Frankfurt. It was all the more bitter for the superior Hessians that the Scots took the lead in the 57th minute. Eintrachts Sow involuntarily extended a long ball in the direction of their own goal, Tuta slipped and Aribo had an easy game.

But Eintracht showed mentality and pushed for an equalizer despite all the bad luck and inability. First, Kamada narrowly missed with a lob (67th minute). Only two minutes later, however, Frankfurt’s Rafael Borré escaped his opponents after a Kostic cross and shot in to equalize.