#EintrachtRangers #barjots #Seville
It is in the land of the most successful European clubs in the Europa League that Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt will have to cross the final curtain this Wednesday night. Nothing predestined them to a European final this year. But it is in a Sánchez Pizjuán stadium that could have tripled its capacity due to the crazy enthusiasm that history will be written in golden letters. Some, Scots, have been chasing a continental title since 1972, others since 1980. Anyone who knows the epilogue of this latest Europa League opera is very smart…
Floats, in the Sevillian oven, an air of madness tinged with nostalgia. From these armored stands of shirtless Scots and Germans, a pint in each hand and the throats unfurled by the thousands, it’s easy to imagine the yellowed clichés of the past. Those of the ancients bringing to Andalusia the memories of a generation to dust off. This Europa League final in a Sánchez Pizjuán with the seams too narrow for such a poster (43,000 seats for some 150,000 fans of the two clubs that made the trip) must be measured on the scale of time. The one in which Frankfurt’s only continental triumph, a UEFA Cup in 1980, was under the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany. Worse yet, for Rangers, the first oil shock had yet to rock the planet when John Greig lifted the 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup after a narrow win against Dynamo Moscow.
“This match gives them the opportunity to go down in club history. » Giovanni van Bronchkorst
The pangs of a Super League among the ultra-rich did not exist, and this final, between the 150-year history of Rangers and the 123-year history of Frankfurt, has the flavor of “tradition against tradition” , swore a few days ago on German television Peter Fischer, the boss of Frankfurt. Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst adds a scoop after hitting his players “May this game give them the opportunity to go down in club history. The stories they will tell in 30 years will be the same ones that all the players of 1972 told us. » You still have to climb the last step, the one in which you advance as confident as trembling. “You go through every possible scenariofoto The midfield player of the Frankfurt Sebastian Rode. This title would be one of the best moments, maybe even the best moment of my career. »
Van Bronckhorst’s Dutch Touch
In both Glasgow and Frankfurt, a European title was not on the checklist for the start of the season. The Scots, led by their untenable winger and defensive breaker James Tavernier (seven goals in the competition) started the season with Steven Gerrard and did not expect to see Van Bronckhorst disembark in mid-November after Aston Villa’s foot call to Stevie. G. The Dutchman, formerly of the blue house, readjusted the board, abandoned the 4-3-3 for a 3-5-2 or a 5-4-1 depending on the opponent and built a perfect furrow far from his borders. Dortmund (16are), Red Star of Belgrade (8are), Braga (quarters) and then Leipzig (halves) ran into the game of possession (Rangers is the formation that has made the most passes this season in the Europa League), the intensity, the mischief of the winger Ryan Kent and in Ibrox stadium for by last capitulate.
A decade after joining Hell, the Gers knock on the doors of Saint-Pierre. German Rangers defender Leon Balogun is fully assembling “a personal matter” : “I played for Mainz and there is an important rivalry with Frankfurt. I have two teams to be proud of. » German coach Oliver Glasner fears him, “Glasgow’s ability to go from three to four or five behind that can destabilize. They are incredibly powerful and aggressive and are very strong on the tackle with a clear structure when in possession of the ball. This team still eliminated two of the best teams in the Bundesliga. »
cafe frankfurt
Indeed. But Frankfurt, mired in the weak point of its national championship (11Y), has chosen Europe to transcend itself and save its annual balance. Without defeats in his entire campaign, almost as much success in 12 European games (7 wins) as in the entire Bundesliga season and a prestigious scalp with the elimination of Barça in the quarterfinals. If Oliver Glasner will have to deal with his busy infirmary (Da Costa and Hinteregger injured, Lindström uncertain), the German coach will be able to rely on his 3K (Knauff, Kamada, Kostić) to engage in his offensive phases and destructive counterattacks. All with ex-Parisian Kevin Trapp in goal, who speaks “a dream come true” with this ending where boredom will be saved. In three meetings throughout their history, all during the 1960s, Rangers and Eintracht have never walked away with less than five registered pawns. The legions of Scots and Germans on an excursion to Seville expect nothing less this Wednesday afternoon before throwing themselves, for eternity, into the intoxication of a coronation in the Old Continent.