Eintracht Frankfurt defeats Rangers on penalties and secures the Uefa Cup for the first time since 1980. Five moments and special stories made the dream come true:
1. Rode like Schweinsteiger
9 minutes: Captain Sebastian Rode needs treatment for minutes after being kicked in the head by John Lundstram. The Eintracht fans chant the name of the “Hesseboy”, for whom winning the cup with Eintracht means a childhood dream. Rode gets a turban, in these moments he thinks of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was knocked out in the 2014 World Cup final.
As he walks to the sidelines, he claps a sponge in his hands and turns to the fans. The signal: Eintracht cannot be defeated. Rode then initiates Eintracht’s attacks with a lot of overview and enormous commitment. His neighbor Djibril Sow later reports: “We also wanted to give this trophy to Seppl.”
2. The country needs old men
57 minutes: Tuta, of all people who has been promoted to defensive organiser, slips away and allows Rangers striker Aribo to score to make it 1-0. It gets even worse: After that, the Brazilian has to leave the field due to injury. The 38-year-old Makoto Hasebe comes in for him – and he organizes the defense with the experience of an oldie, but the running strength of a 20-year-old.
When Evan N’Dicka later dropped out as well, Eintracht found themselves completely without their regular defense in the final (Martin Hinteregger was absent anyway). And yet the Hessians do not allow many chances against a team from Glasgow, which had given Leipzig and Dortmund a total of nine goals. Also thanks to Makoto Hasebe.
3. Filip Kostic’s moments of genius
69 minutes: Eintracht fans and opponents have seen this movement a thousand times. Kostic on the left, deceives, arranges the ball, takes it out and then puts the ball precisely into the penalty area. Even if his movements are known, the Serb simply cannot be defended. His flanks are like a “laser”, as Didi Hamann once aptly described it. Kostic’s cross flies right between the defenders and into an uncomfortable area in front of the six-yard box for the goalkeeper. The Colombian Rafael Borré skilfully pushes the ball over the line. Coach Oliver Glasner later announced that Kostic would probably stay with Eintracht. Who would have this development after his Thoughts of emigration in summer considered possible?
4. Trapp with a world-class rescue
118 minutes: Not just Uli Stein now thinks Kevin Trapp is the most in-form German goalkeeper. The keeper becomes a hero with his saved penalty, but passed on the praise immediately after the final whistle: “We are all heroes.” Even more grandiose than the saved penalty was Trapp’s rescue operation a few minutes before the overtime whistle. Glasgow’s Ryan Kent gets the ball six meters from goal and can actually turn away to celebrate (and thus ensure Rangers’ victory) – but Trapp sprints from the side and fends off the ball in an inimitable way with his foot. Even in slow motion, this parade seems too fast for the human eye.
5. First Frankfurt penalty – the Lenz is there
Every soccer player knows that the first shooter is particularly important in a penalty shoot-out. All the more surprising that Christopher Lenz grabs the ball at Eintracht. He has not played a major sporting role in recent months and only moves into the team at the end of the game due to the injury-related substitution of N’Dicka.