Winning a European trophy has never been easy. Be it the Champions League, the European Super Cup, or the Europa League, it has always been difficult to win some of Europe’s premier competitions. But to do it by facing some of the best teams in the competition and knocking them out of the competition is an even more commendable task.

Eintracht Frankfurt has done just that. They have knocked out Turkish giants Fenerbahce, Greek team Olympiacos, Spanish team Real Betis, English dark horses West Ham and the biggest fish of them all, FC Barcelona on their way to the Europa League glory.

Let’s take a detailed look at how Eintracht Frankfurt went from being a dark horse in the race for Europa League to the Europa League champions for the 2021-22 season.

Group Stage

Frankfurt had a difficult opening game in the competition with a 2-2 draw against Fenerbahce at home. They then went on a 3 game winning streak and defeated Antwerp once and won a doubleheader against Olympiacos. They accumulated 10 points from their first 4 games. 

They drew their final 2 games against Antwerp and Fenerbahce although they needed a 94th-minute equalizer from Portuguese player Goncalo Paciencia to force a 2-2 draw with the Belgian side at the Deutsche Bank Park in the 4th round of games.

Doing the double over Olympiacos and taking two points off Fenerbahce saw Frankfurt top the group with 12 points from a possible 18 – three clear of the Greek runners-up and advancing to the last-16 in the process. This was a good start but difficult times were about to come.

Round of 16: Real Betis(2)-Eintracht Frankfurt(3)

Eintracht Frankfurt drew Manuel Pellegrini’s structurally compact Real Betis side in the Europa League Round of 16 after they finished second in their Group G finishing on 10 points. This was bound to be a tricky game for the German who was facing a counter-attacking Real Betis side. 

Their trip to Bento Villamarin got off to a perfect journey after Filip Kostic put them ahead in the 14th minute with a powerful strike. Nabil Fekir equalized for Real Betis before Daichi Kamada’s 32nd-minute effort clinched a 2-1 first-leg win for Frankfurt, who were pushed all the way by their Spanish counterparts in the second leg.

The return leg saw Betis force extra time on Frankfurt after a 90th-minute equalizer by experienced forward Borja Iglesias. But with penalties looming, a mixup between the 2 Betis CBS saw them score an own goal with exactly 120 minutes on the clock. 

This mixup cost Betis the match and they were knocked out of the Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt.

Quarter Finals: Eintracht Frankfurt(4)-FC Barcelona(3)

A Barcelona side with a renewed sense of confidence under Xavi Hernandez entered the Europa League as one of the favorites to go all of the ways in the tournament after dropping down from the Champions League in an embarrassing 3rd placed group to finish behind Bayern Munich and SL Benfica.

Frankfurt begged to differ though, as Ansgar Knauff netted a thunderbolt of an effort before Ferran Torres responded to force a 1-1 draw in the first leg ahead of the Camp Nou encounter.

In their “away” game, with their 20,000 fans supporting them from the stands and being much louder than Culers, they shockingly went 3-0 up after some amazing goals from their players and a very powerful rocket shot for the second goal to beat Marc Andre ter Stegen. Frankfurt held that lead until Barcelona scored 2 back via goals from Pedri and Busquets in extra time to knock out the absolute favourites Barcelona and cause a massive upset that will be remembered fondly for some years to come by Frankfurt fans.

Semi-Finals: Eintracht Frankfurt(3)- West Ham(1)

Frankfurt had earned their tickets to the London Stadium for one of the most famous European nights in West Ham’s history, but Glasner’s Frankfurt played party poopers after less than a minute in the English capital.

Knauff was allowed to drift away at the back post and finish before Michail Antonio’s strike just crossed the line despite the efforts of a scrambling Kevin Trapp. Kamada then had the simple task of walking the ball into the net to restore Frankfurt’s one-goal first-leg lead after getting extremely lucky.

Red cards for Aaron Cresswell and David Moyes did not help West Ham during the second leg, and an insurance 3rd goal from Borre ensured that Eintracht Frankfurt would travel back to Seville once again to compete in the final for the trophy.

Final: Eintracht Frankfurt(1)- Rangers FC(1) : (5-4 after penalties)

Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium looked incredible as it was colored with waves of crisp white Frankfurt jerseys on a sea of Rangers blue.

But Frankfurt midfielder Sebastian Rode needed to change his white shirt after it was bloodied by a high boot from John Lundstram inside the first five minutes.

Rode received a head bandage for his troubles, while Lundstram was lucky not to receive a yellow card. There was a nervous moment for Rangers early in the second half as the VAR conducted a check for a potential penalty after Borre had gone down under a challenge from Connor Goldson. Rangers survived the review and then went ahead shortly after. 

Aribo latched onto a misguided Djibril Sow header and capitalized on a slip from Rangers CB Tuta before finishing coolly with his left foot. Kostic did excellently to fire in a low cross under pressure and Borre reacted quicker than Usain Bolt in the 2008 Olympics 100m final to deliver home a deserved equalizer.

Trapp then produced another magic performance to sway a high-quality shootout in Frankfurt’s favor. Nine of the 10 penalties were converted but Trapp managed to thwart former Arsenal midfielder Ramsey.

Then, Eintracht Frankfurt were Europa League champions.

Also read: 5 teams who have won the most number of Europa League titles in football history

Stay Updated!

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.

Subscribe NOW