There’s a storm heading towards Seville. One way or another, Rangers fans will descend upon the south of Spain in droves and will be met by an Eintracht Frankfurt contingent that will likely match their number. Despite the warnings, over 100,000 supporters are expected to crowd the city’s picturesque streets and cobbled plazas ahead of tonight’s Europa League final. The lucky few will have received tickets for the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan out of the slender allocation offered by Uefa. The rest will pack into fan zones, the two sides separated by five kilometres and on either side of the Guadalquivir waterway. It will just be close enough to the Pizjuan to justify their pilgrimage.
This is not an occasion to be missed. It is the most unexpected European final in a decade, since Porto met Braga in 2011, and is arguably the biggest match in the histories of both Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt. Villarreal’s victory over Manchester United last season aside, in recent years the Europa League has been routinely won by cast-offs from the Champions League, an underperforming member of the European super clubs, or Seville. This line-up breaks that pattern and is one that could not have been predicted two months ago, let alone at the start of the season.
