Eintracht Frankfurt meet Rangers in the UEFA Europa League final at Seville’s Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium on Wednesday 18 May.
Where to watch Frankfurt vs Rangers and TV channels
Fans can find their local UEFA Europa League broadcast partner(s) here.
What do you need to know? Have Rangers and Frankfurt played in the final before?
UEFA Cup winners in 1980, Frankfurt’s passionate supporters have been a huge feature of the competition this season, not least for the 3-2 win at the Camp Nou that eliminated Barcelona. A meeting with Rangers will take them back to another famous European occasion: they scored six in both legs as they eliminated the ‘Gers in the semi-finals en route to losing the 1960 European Cup final 7-3 to Real Madrid.
Rangers have doubtless got over that defeat by now. The Glasgow side’s greatest continental achievement to date was winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972: their only success in four major UEFA competition finals to date. Their most recent disappointment came in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup decider against Zenit, but Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side will be determined to take this opportunity.
Meet the finalists
Starting line-ups
Frankfurt: Trapp; Touré, Tuta, N’Dicka; Knauff, Sow, Rode, Kostić; Lindstrøm, Kamada, Borré
Rangers: McGregor; Goldson, Lundstram, Bassey; Tavernier, Jack, Kamara, Barišić; Wright, Aribo, Kent
Form guide
Frankfurt
Form (all competitions, most recent first): DDWLWD
Where they stand: 11th in German Bundesliga
Rangers
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WWWWDL
Where they stand: Scottish Premier League runners-up, Scottish Cup final
Expert predictions
James Thorogood, Frankfurt reporter
The only side to have gone the entire Europa League campaign unbeaten, Eintracht Frankfurt are riding another wave of fan-driven euphoria. After their 2018/19 fairy tale was cut short in the semi-finals, the 1980 UEFA Cup winners have another chance to claim a first European title in over 40 years and with it their first ever appearance in the UEFA Champions League next season. For many, Wednesday’s final will be a once-in-a-career experience and it will be a battle of emotions as well as wills – but that tends to be when the Eagles are at their best.
Alex O’Henley, Rangers reporter
On the 50th anniversary of their team’s European Cup Winners’ Cup success in Barcelona, Rangers supporters are understandably thinking their name might be on the cup this year. Having already taken care of two higher ranked Bundesliga sides in Dortmund and Leipzig, there is cautious optimism among players and fans that Spain could once again be the setting for a major European success.
View from the camps
Oliver Glasner, Frankfurt coach: “I’m so proud of the players and what they’ve produced in the last two months. Both teams fully deserve to be in the final. With Rangers, I see a mix of West Ham and Barcelona. The Dutch influence of the head coach in their build-up play, but the British mentality. We need a top performance.”
Sebastian Rode, Frankfurt midfielder: “For me, as a single match, it will certainly be the greatest moment of my career. We’ve picked up on this whole atmosphere already in the two weeks since the West Ham game, everyone talks to you about it and says they hope you win the title. It gives you goosebumps when you think about what we get to experience tomorrow.”
Rafael Borré, Frankfurt forward: “To play this final with Eintracht Frankfurt is fantastic. This is a great opportunity. We have a great team spirit and that’s exactly what brought us here. We want to show that tomorrow as well.”
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Rangers manager: “This is a club I played for for three years in the 90s and I’m proud to take the boys into the final. It’s a huge opportunity to get a second major prize in Europe. We’ve had an amazing run and it will be an amazing final. But the final is only nice when you win.”
James Tavernier, Rangers defender: “This means the world to us. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the team and the boss. It’s one step away and we want to bring the cup back home. We’ll leave everything on the pitch and make everyone proud.”
Ryan Jack, Rangers midfielder: “It has been a crazy journey. I never thought I’d be here playing in a Europa League final. I’m proud and grateful to be here and hopefully we can take the trophy home.”
What do the 2022 Europa League winners get?
The UEFA Europa League trophy stands at 65cm tall and weighs 15kg. A silver cup on a yellow marble plinth, it was designed and crafted by the Bertoni workshop in Milan. Just above the plinth, a group of players seem to be jostling for the ball, when, in fact, they are supporting the octagonal ‘cup’ which is emblazoned with the UEFA emblem.
The winning team are presented with 40 gold medals and the runners-up with 40 silver medals.
The winners gain a place in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage, if they have not qualified via their domestic competition.
