A night for the ages at Ibrox sets up the prospect of a triumph that will be remembered forever.
Rangers are in the Europa League Final, carried by a white-hot Ibrox shaken to its very foundations on one of the club's most famous nights.
Trailing RB Leipzig by a single goal from the first leg, Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side ran out 3-1 winners to book their place in Seville for a historic showdown with Eintracht Frankfurt.
It was a night of both high drama and turbulent emotions as the club mourned the death of beloved kitman Jimmy Bell earlier this week.
The late Ibrox hero's memory was honoured with an occasion and performance to make him proud.
Goals from James Tavernier, Glen Kamara and an already iconic John Lundstram winner after Christopher Nkunku had levelled the tie sparked quite incredible scenes that have been beamed across the globe.
Rangers have forced the world's media to sit up and take notice and again there were no shortage of awestruck, stunned verdicts on Friday morning.
Here's a selection of the best.
The Guardian (London)
Ibrox erupts, the Rangers players cavort ... and Jimmy Bell is looking down from somewhere, smiling at a job well done! Rangers deservedly make it to the 2022 Europa League final!
They’ll play Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville on May 18! What a performance! To put this in context, nine years ago yesterday, Rangers were lifting the Third Division trophy. Ready? Aye.
The Score (USA)
Eintracht Frankfurt hadn't played in a European final in 42 years. Rangers slipped into administration a short decade ago.
Both are now back in the big time.
Frankfurt and Rangers booked their places in the Europa League final after winning their semifinal matchups on Thursday.
Frankfurt shut out 10-man West Ham United to advance 3-1 on aggregate, and Rangers overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit with a thundering 3-1 victory at home to RB Leipzig.
The final will take place at Sevilla's Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on May 18.
Bild (Germany)
Leipzig has no hand on the pot!
The dream of the first title in the club's history bursts with the 1: 3 at the Glasgow Rangers, who knocked out BVB (2: 2, 4: 2) in the knockout round.
50,000 Scots in Ibrox Park in a frenzy. And that was two days after the death of Rangers legend Jimmy Bell (69). Captain James Tavernier (30): "Jimmy was the heart and soul of our club." Both teams commemorate the former bus driver and kit man with a black ribbon.
Tavernier, who has already scored three times against Dortmund, completed the second post to make it 1-0 (19th). The captain scored all of his seven goals in the knockout stages, five of them the opening goal.
Kamara snips into the far corner from 17 meters to make it 2-0 (24th). The goal hero tears the crape from his arm and kisses the black ribbon. The stadium trembles. The only 1000 Leipzig (of 2200 possible away fans) will certainly not forget this day.
Lundstram buries all of Leipzig's final hopes with his rebound goal to make it 3-1 (81st).
One thing is clear: the Bulls collapse at the end of the season.
L'Equipe (France)
On May 18, the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville will host an unprecedented Europa League final, opposing Glasgow Rangers to Eintracht Frankfurt, who both qualified this Thursday evening by winning at home.
The Scottish club won against RB Leipzig (3-1), after losing in the semi-final first leg (0-1). In a boiling atmosphere at Ibrox, the dominating Rangers opened the scoring through their right-back James Tavernier, who continues to score in this C3 (7 goals in 13 matches) and who on this occasion took advantage of a service from Ryan Kent, author of a splendid overflow (1-0, 18th).
Six minutes later, Glen Kamara took over without control, from the left, a delivery from Scott Wright in the German area (2-0, 24th).
But little by little, the Germans came back into the match to the point that Christopher Nkunku, very restless as always, put the two teams equal on the whole of the two matches by cutting with the flat of the right foot a magnificent cross from Angelino (2-1, 70th). While they seemed exhausted, the Rangers managed to score the goal of qualification on a confused action, John Lundstram taking over from the left a long ball from Kent which had been badly negotiated by Peter Gulacsi (3-1, 80th).
Marca (Spain)
The Europa League and Conference League have brought two finals between four classic European teams to which history has given them a great opportunity in this 2021-22 season to shine their showcases.
In the Europa League, Rangers and Eintracht will meet on Wednesday, May 18 at the Sánchez Pizjuán. The Scots, who suffered relegation to the fourth division due to financial problems, had not been to a continental final for 14 years , when they fell to Russian Zenit (2-0).
Eintracht, for its part, experienced its last continental brilliance at the beginning of the 1980s. His last European final for the Germans was in 1979-80, 42 years ago , when they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach thanks to away goals (3-3 on aggregate).
Tag 24 (Germany)
Europa League final in Seville, RB Leipzig can only watch! The Saxons couldn't prevail in the second leg of the semifinals at Glasgow Rangers on Thursday evening and lost 3-1 (0-2), which was well deserved. The last opponent in the competition for the Scots is now called Eintracht Frankfurt!
Full house: In the famous Ibrox Stadium, the atmosphere was great even before kick-off.
James Tavernier made it 1-0 in the packed Ibrox Stadium in the 19th minute. Only five pointer turns later, Glen Kamara increased to 2:0. Christopher Nkunku reduced the lead to 1:2 in the second half (70'), but almost ten minutes later John Lundstram restored the two-goal lead with his 3:1 (81').
Le Parisien (France)
In the Europa League, the final will be a clash between two great teams, but also and above all between two atmospheres and two exceptional audiences. Beaten in the first leg by the Leipzig of Christopher Nkunku, still scorer this Thursday evening, the Glasgow Rangers managed to turn the tide and qualify (3-1). The Light Blues quickly took a two-goal lead thanks to Tavernier and Kamara, before conceding the 2-1 by Nkunku then regaining a definitive advantage, ten minutes from time. 14 years the UEFA Cup in 2008, Rangers find a European Cup final. They will face Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville, who defeated Barça in the previous round and who did the minimum necessary against West Ham (1-0).
Lapin Kansa (Finland)
A Finnish player will be seen in the final of the European Football League this year. The Scottish club Rangers knocked out the German club Leipzig 3-1 at their home ground at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow on Thursday night and advanced to the finals with 3-2 goals.
Rangers took the lead in the 19th minute for James Tavernier's goal, and in the 24th minute the Finnish national team's midfielder Glen Kamara took his 2–0 lead.
Leipzig 's Christopher Nkunku brought Leipzig's goal to the end of the second half, but Rangers' final was completed by John Lundstram after nine minutes of play.
In the final, the Rangers will face the German team Eintracht Frankfurt, which knocked out the London group West Ham 1-0 and went to the final with a joint goal of 3-1.
With the Rangers final place, Kamara has the opportunity to enter a club that is rare in Finland. Among the Finnish players , Jari Rantanen, Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypi have previously celebrated the Eurocup victory . Rantanen won the Uefa Cup at IFK Gothenburg in 1987, Litmanen at the Champions League Ajax in 1995 and the Uefa Cup at Liverpool in 2001, and Hyypiä at the Uefa Cup in Liverpool in 2001 and the Champions League in 2005.
RB Live (Germany)
There is no other stadium like Rangers FC's "Ibrox". A corrugated iron box typical of British football, whose stands rise steeply and offer space for 50,000 fans on closely spaced pitches.
The last modernisation dates from the early eighties. Nothing is artificial at the Ibrox. This also applies to the audience, who had a decisive influence on the outcome of the semi-final second leg in the Europa League on Thursday evening. The whole stadium sang for 90 minutes, roared, roared, the upper tiers vibrated as if the building were shaking.
It filled 20 minutes before kick-off, the chants just beginning, while a huge banner commemorated Rangers' 1972 Cup Winners' Cup victory over Dinamo Moscow in Barcelona. Including the sentence: "The successes of those who came before us are our inspiration."
The minute's silence at the death of kit man Jimmy Bell silenced the 50,000 fans for the only 60 seconds that evening. You could hear the rain falling on the grandstand roofs. After that, the atmosphere exploded.
In the middle of this witches' cauldron: The RB Leipzig players, who were impressed by this backdrop and were 2-0 down within five minutes in the middle of the first half. In the end it was 1:3 - the dream of the final is over!
