On May 6, Beijing time, the second leg of the Europa League semi-finals ended, Frankfurt defeated West Ham United, and Glasgow Rangers reversed Leipzig to advance to the final! After 13 days, the final will be played.
In the first leg of the semi-finals, West Ham United lost 2-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. During the second leg, the Hammers suffered a heavy blow in the opening 18th minute, and the main left-back Creswell was sent off with a red card! In the 26th minute, Knauf's inverted triangle return pass from the right side of the penalty area was swept into the net by Borre's right foot in the middle, 1-0!
In the end, the Bundesliga powerhouses completed a double to reach the final with a 3-1 aggregate score, and the last time they reached the European final was the UEFA Cup in 1980, when they defeated Borussia Moncheng, also from the Bundesliga, to win their only European title to date. Of course, Frankfurt was also the runner-up of the Champions League in 1960.
In the second semi-final, Leipzig beat Glasgow Rangers 1-0 in the first leg. Back at home in the second leg, the Super League giants launched a fierce counterattack. In the 18th minute, Kent swept across the goal on the left side of the penalty area and Tafnier wrapped up the empty goal to win 1-0! Equaliser overall.
In the 24th minute, Scott Wright did it back and Kamala slashed into the net with his left foot from outside the penalty area, 2-0! In the 70th minute, Nkunku pulled a goal back to equalize on aggregate, but in the 80th minute, Lundstam went down again, 3-1! In the end, the Rangers overtook Leipzig with a 3-2 aggregate score to reach the Europa League final.
This is another European final for the Super League giants since the 2008 UEFA Cup, when they lost to Zenit and the only European champion in team history was the 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup, exactly 50 years ago!
At 3:00 a.m. Beijing time on May 19, the final of this Europa League will be played at the Pizjuan Stadium in Seville.