Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CRUELLA SEVILLE FOR GERS
Lundstram and Davis devastated by shootout failure as Europa dream dies in Spanish heat
GUTTED John Lundstram last night told of Rangers’ heartbreak following their heart-breaking Europa League Final loss.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, his brave troops and around 100,000 Ibrox supporters both inside the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium and in the city were left shattered in Spain after a painful penalty shootout defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
After 120 minutes energysapping minutes, it was Welshman Aaron Ramsey who suffered the misery of failing in the spot kick decider.
James Tavernier, Steven Davis, Scott Arfield and Kemar Roofe kept their nerve in the penalties.
But, as Allan Mcgregor, who was the oldest keeper ever to play in a Europa League Final at the age of 40, was unable to save any of the Eintracht kicks, Ramsey’s strike saved by German keeper Kevin Trapp took the trophy to his homeland.
Rangers headed back to Spain with the dream scenario of emulating the Barcelona side of 1972 who won the Cup Winners’
Cup.
But, unlike Willie Waddell’s legends, the class of
2022 were unable to get over the line as they came up just short in the most brutal fashion.
Lundstram summed up the emotions as he said: “We are heartbroken. It’s so hard to take to lose on penalties.
“In the 120 minutes I don’t think both teams were great and we could have played better. But it’s hard to play on a big stage like this, it’s nervous for everyone.
“I am just severely disappointed to lose on penalties. It’s a lottery. Anyone could have missed.
“Aaron is an experienced enough player to know that. It could have been any of the 11 on the pitch.
“We are just so heartbroken. I’m disappointed to let everyone down. They have all come over to Seville and we had three quarters of the stadium.”
Rangers led through Joe Aribo before Frankfurt levelled in normal time and Ryan Kent almost won the trophy in the dying seconds of extra-time, only to be denied by a stunning Trapp save.
Lundstram added: “The chance at the end was the point where we could have won it. But what can you do? It was a world-class save.
“We are just devastated. The boys put in so much graft. We can all be super proud to have got this far, but I am so heartbroken for the fans and everyone.
“We were the one pushing and pressing in extra time. We were getting crosses in and Ryan had the chance but the keeper made a top save.”
Steven Davis echoed the feelings of his midfield colleague Lundstram as he said: “Once it goes to that stage of the game, it’s a lottery.
“We were desperate to send the fans home happy. They have been tremendous for us this whole campaign and the boys have been tremendous. But it hurts.
“Whenever you get to a final, it always hurts when you don’t come away with the trophy and this is the same. I really thought we’d go on to win it. It is a major disappointment, but, at the same time, I couldn’t be more proud of all of the lads, the staff, the fans and everyone associated with the club.
“We know how difficult it is to get here. We left everything out on the pitch to try and get a result but it hasn’t happened. It is a sore one to take.
“We know how difficult it will be to get to this stage again, we’ve done unbelievable. It’s been a great journey, but disappointment in the end.”
Rangers must now pick themselves up for Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final against Hearts and Davis added: “Hopefully, we’ll get a winners medal there. But we need to get over the disappointment of this first.”