Eintracht Frankfurt chairman Philip Holzer has paid a remarkable tribute to the sportsmanship of Rangers fans after their Europa League Final defeat. Rangers fans outnumbered the German supporters for the final in Seville in May, although it was to end in a penalty shootout heartache for them with Eintracht winning the final.
Eintracht had earlier made headlines of their own in the tournament after they swamped the Nou Camp with 30,000 of their own fans as they bundled Barcelona out of the competition. And Holzer reflected on the Spanish showdown by praising the Ibrox fans in an interview in his homeland to celebrate their season.
He said: "I want to say I have a very high opinion of Glasgow Rangers - they are a very big club with big fans. These fans were such decent, great losers. How they celebrated their own team was incredible. Our fans are better singers, for sure. But I didn't meet a single Rangers fan who didn't congratulate me and the team. And that impressed me so much.
"I just think the Gods were in our favour in Seville. For example, there was a moment in the game where the ball was cleared towards us and Charly Korbel - our all-time appearance holder - caught it. Somehow I had the feeling - we can't lose this!
"It was an incredible season and we created a record in Barcelona that will last for eternity. After we beat them I went down to the pitch and I never do that. There was a wall of 30,000 Eintracht fans. It gave me goosebumps. Barcelona will do ticketing differently now. The Nou Camp is the biggest stadium in the world and our fans tricked the great Barcelona...we caught them on the wrong foot!
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