Ally McCoist ‘heartbroken’ after Rangers penalties defeat v Frankfurt in Europa League final
Ally McCoist admitted he was ‘heartbroken’ that Rangers had lost the Europa League final 5-4 on penalties to Frankfurt in Seville.
The Bears took the lead through Joe Aribo before Rafael Borre equalised, and then scored the winning penalty after Aaron Ramsey missed in the shootout to claim the trophy for the Germans.
Speaking live on BT Sport straight after the final whistle, McCoist admitted he was ‘absolutely gutted’ but praised Frankfurt for the standard of their penalties to win the tournament.
“Absolutely [the worst way to lose],” he said. “The boys will be absolutely heartbroken seeing the supporters faces as well. I feel for them. I’m absolutely gutted for them. I thought they were the stronger team at the end, but it wasn’t to be.
“What a chance. You go back to the chance that Ryan Kent had to win it, what a chance. Great chance. But I’ve got to say the quality of the penalty kicks, particularly from Frankfurt, was absolutely first class.”
Gutted
It was a battle and a heart-wrenching performance from the boys on the night and losing on penalties was so, so harsh, but arguably the fairest way.
Nobody in a blue shirt deserved to be on the losing side after those 120 minutes of football and the fact they were able to claim a goal on the night and go all the way will be a positive they can take.
In the end it was Ramsey’s penalty that cost the team, a player brought on specifically for the shootout, but the team had chances to win the tournament in normal time and extra-time too.
McCoist is the soul of the club and nobody will feel worse than he does after the game, but as he said it just wasn’t to be in the end.
Rangers had no right being in the game but defied all the odds to make it, so they can and should be proud of themselves.
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