Rangers defending a ‘complete mess’ in Europa League final v Frankfurt
Rangers suffered a penalty shootout defeat in the Europa League final in Seville as Eintracht Frankfurt took the trophy back to Germany.
Joe Aribo scored the Gers’ goal early into the second half after a dreadful slip from Frankfurt defender Tuta but Rafael Borre was quick to respond with the leveller for the Bundesliga side.
Earlier in the first half though, the Light Blues very nearly went behind after a calamitous display of defending that they were fortunate to escape from without the ball in the back of their net.
BBC pundit Pat Nevin did not hold back on the defenders in blue after what could have been a fatal error in the biggest game of the season.
“Complete mess at the back there,” Nevin said. “They didn’t know when to make a tackle. McGregor couldn’t get his paws on it. The Rangers fans behind the goal were all gasping there, they’ve got away with it.”
Pressure
It is understandable for there to be mistakes and tense moments in a final, games don’t get any bigger than this and you could tell that both sets of players were feeling the pressure of the occasion.
Only robots would not feel some kind of nervousness or pressure for a final of any magnitude, let alone one of club football’s biggest prizes and it won’t have been exclusive to the players either with the staff and especially fans just as invested in the tie.
For the most part though, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side coped with the packed Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and the rowdy atmosphere both sets of fans created well and it created a fantastic game of football as a result.
This was definitely an isolated incident in the game because other than the goal, Ranges looked very assured in defence and any chances that came Frankfurt’s way were only half-chances at best that Allan McGregor could deal with comfortably.
In other Rangers news, one of the Gers’ injured players was spotted roaming the streets of Seville before the game among the rest of the Scottish supporters.