Rangers and Frankfurt roll back the years for retro Europa League final

Ten years after financial oblivion plunged them into Scotland’s bottom tier, Rangers are on the brink of lifting their first European trophy in half a century as they meet Eintracht Frankfurt in the final of the Europa League on Wednesday.  

Administration, liquidation and relegation all blighted a broken club in 2012 but if the Rangers recovery was complete when they won the Scottish Premiership again last season, a final in Seville now offers them a shot at European glory too.

“We’re one game away from making history,” Rangers midfielder Aaron Ramsey said on Monday as the squad departed for Spain, the final leg of a journey that began eight months ago in defeat and disappointment.

With the chance to play in the Champions League on the back of winning the Scottish title, Rangers instead lost to Malmo in the third qualifying round, a result that set up a play-off to reach the Europa League with Alashkert from Armenia.

There were more prestigious opponents to come as Rangers, under Giovanni van Bronckhorst from November after Steven Gerrard left for Aston Villa, defeated Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and Leipzig in the knock-out rounds to reach their first European final in 14 years.

A victory would earn the club its first cup on the continent since Rangers beat Dynamo Moscow 3-2 in Barcelona to lift the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972.

“This is a chance for them to be in the history books of this club and really get an historic win,” sad Van Bronckhorst. 

Frankfurt will start the match as favourites after already knocking out Real Betis, Barcelona and West Ham to elevate an otherwise underwhelming campaign that saw the team finish 11th in the Bundesliga.

The crowd are expected to play a huge part at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, with up to 100,000 Rangers fans and at least 60,000 Frankfurt supporters expected to follow their teams to Seville, raising concerns about security in the city.

Frankfurt fans clashed with West Ham fans in Seville when the teams crossed there in March while Rangers’ last European final against Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester, in the UEFA Cup in 2008, was marred by violence as 39 people were arrested and riot police had to be called.