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Kent believes Rangers are destined for UEL glory, Tavernier eyes Golden Boot

talksport.com, 13 May 2022, 10:11
Rangers are gearing up for one of the biggest games in their history as they face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final.

The Gers surrendered the Scottish Premiership title to rivals Celtic last weekend but have a far greater prize within their grasp.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men sealed their spot in Seville with a historic 3-2 aggregate victory over RB Leipzig.

And following their win against Borussia Dortmund, one final Bundesliga side stand in their way of pulling off a momentous result for Scottish football.

Frankfurt will be a tough opponent, though, and they have already knocked out Barcelona and West Ham.

Frankfurt v Rangers: talkSPORT commentary

The Europa League final will take place on Wednesday, May 18, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm UK time.

talkSPORT will provide coverage of the game at Seville's Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium with Adrian Durham as your presenter.

Commentary will then come from Jim Proudfoot and former Rangers midfielder Charlie Adam.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2, click HERE for the live stream.

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Frankfurt v Rangers: Team news

Rangers will be without talisman Alfredo Morelos due to injury but back up Kemar Roofe is set to be back from his own knee issue.

The Gers first play a dead rubber league fixture against Hearts and could be set to rest a number of key players for the Europa League final.

Frankfurt v Rangers: What has been said?

Rangers star Ryan Kent: "I don't think anyone going into this season would have expected Rangers to reach the final of this competition.

"It's a platform where we can really showcase ourselves under less pressure. All that changes now going into the final.

"Everybody is expecting us to go and win, ourselves included."

Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner: "They have eliminated two Bundesliga clubs, Dortmund and Leipzig

"And their wins were fully deserved. In fact, I haven't seen Leipzig in such big trouble as they were in the first-half of the second leg game against Rangers in Glasgow.

"They are incredibly strong in one-on-one combat, they break up front rapidly and bring the ball quickly into the penalty area.

"They are very flexible with their formation, switch from three chain to five chain or also use the four chain in the build-up.

"They have a very structured approach to the game. It's going to be a 50-50 game. Both teams deserve to be in the final."

Frankfurt v Rangers: Match facts

Daichi Kamada is Eintracht Frankfurt's top scorer in the UEFA Europa League this season with five goals, which has taken his tally for the club in major European competition to 11 (excluding qualifiers); only three players have scored more such goals for the club - Bernd Hölzenbein (18), Bernd Nickel (12) and Anthony Yeboah (12). Should Kamada score in this match, he would be the first Japanese player score in a major European final, and only the second Asian after Cha Bum-kun (South Korea) in the 1988 UEFA Cup for Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Espanyol.

Rangers right-back James Tavernier is the outright top scorer in this season's UEFA Europa League proper, with his seven goals also the most ever by a Rangers player in a single season in a major European competition (excl. qualifiers).

Rangers coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst could become the first Dutch manager to lift the UEFA Cup/Europa League title since Dick Advocaat in 2008, who defeated Rangers as Zenit coach. Eintracht Frankfurt manager Oliver Glasner, meanwhile, could become the first Austrian to lead a side to victory in the competition, with Ernst Happel failing on two occasions - with Club Brugge against Liverpool in 1976 and with Hamburger SV against IFK Göteborg in 1982.

Eintracht Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner is set to become the fifth Austrian manager to contest a major European final, after Ernst Happel (five times), Max Merkel, Herman Stessl and Ernst Dokupil. Only two of the eight such finals contested by these managers to date have been won by his compatriots, with Happel winning the European Cup twice - in 1970 with Feyenoord against Celtic and in 1983 with Hamburger SV against Juventus.

Rangers have played 14 matches in Spain in European competition and have won only once (D3 L10), although that match was the only time they have played in Spain as a neutral side, defeating Dinamo Moscow in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1972 to win their only European title to date.

Eintracht Frankfurt have played six matches in Spain to date in European competition, but never as a neutral side. Having lost on their first visit in 1969 against Athletic Club, they are since unbeaten in five matches in Spain (W4 D1), beating Real Betis and Barcelona away from home this season in the UEFA Europa League.

Rangers have already eliminated two German clubs from the UEFA Europa League this season in Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. Should they lift the trophy ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt, they will become the first team in UEFA Cup/Europa League history to eliminate three teams from a single nation in one season (excluding group stages).

Eintracht Frankfurt are unbeaten in the UEFA Europa League this season, and could become only the third side to win the competition without being beaten, after Chelsea in 2018-19 and Villarreal in 2020-21. Only two sides have reached the final unbeaten but not gone on to lift the trophy - Benfica in 2013-14 and Inter in 2019-20, both whom dropped down into the competition from the UEFA Champions League.

Rangers lost their first two matches in the UEFA Europa League this season, beaten by Lyon and Sparta Prague in the group stages without scoring a single goal. They have become the first team in UEFA Cup/Europa League history to reach the final despite losing their first two matches in the competition proper that season.

Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers have played each other twice before in Europe, with a European Cup semi-final tie in 1960 producing a total of 16 goals (Eintracht Frankfurt 12-4 Rangers on aggregate). The eight goals per game generated in this fixture is the highest for either side in major European competition (min. 2 games in a fixture).

Rangers are the first Scottish club to reach the final of a major European competition since Rangers themselves in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup. They have reached five such finals, as many as every other Scottish side combined.

Eintracht Frankfurt have reached their third final in major European competition - they lost in the final of the European Cup in 1960 against Real Madrid before beating Borussia Mönchengladbach to lift the UEFA Cup in 1980.

This will be the third major European final to be held in Seville. The first saw Steaua Bucuresti beat Barcelona on penalties in the 1986 European Cup at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, while the second saw Porto defeat Celtic in the UEFA Cup in 2003 at Estadio La Cartuja.

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