Rangers suffer Europa League final shootout defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt

Rafael Borré stood alone in front of a sea of blue. All that and it came to this. One shot to secure Eintracht Frankfurt’s first European trophy in 42 years. The forward ran up and struck the ball into the net, beyond Allan McGregor, to win a dramatic penalty shootout and send the supporters in white at the other end of the ground wild. Rangers’ fans meanwhile, fell silent for the first time: 50 years they had waited for a European trophy; who knows how much longer they will have to wait for another chance.

A 1-1 draw, a glorious 118th-minute chance, saved by Kevin Trapp, and it had gone to penalties. Aaron Ramsey had been sent on to take one, only to watch it saved by the Eintracht keeper. It had been a crazy ride, and now it was over in the cruellest way. So close, but defeated at the last. A long, hot, wild evening finally turning away from them.

This was loud. It was lively, too. An early cut inflicted upon Sebastian Rode – which saw his bloodied shirt replaced, his head wrapped in a blue bandage and caused everyone to stop for five long minutes almost as soon as they had started – did not succeed in slowing this down. And if lovely moments of footwork from James Tavernier at one end and Jesper Lindstrøm at the other didn’t yield early shots on goal, strikes followed relatively swiftly. For Eintracht, at least, a side at their best when they are up and running.

An Almamy Touré pass over the top of the Rangers defence found Daichi Kamada for the first of them. Close to the six-yard box, the forward took a touch too many, the space closing before him until he was eventually stopped by McGregor. The goalkeeper was up quickly enough to gather Djibril Sow’s follow-up from the edge of the area. McGregor was there again to