Europa League Final
Curious banner dispute and drink chaos: What went wrong on the night of Seville
Not strictly according to the rules either: Eintracht Frankfurt fans ignited pyrotechnics in the Seville stadium
© Arne Dedert / DPA
The night of Seville – the fans of Eintracht Frankfurt who traveled with us will probably remember it forever. Her team’s Europa League trophy is the reward for a thrilling season. But there were also scenes that clouded the joy a little.
At 11:55 p.m., the cheering broke out: “Oh, how beautiful it is” resounded through the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville, sung far and wide by tens of thousands of Frankfurters in the arena. After Rafael Borré’s converted penalty, the supporters in the southern Spanish city and also in Frankfurt at home celebrated their team’s triumph: Europa League winners 2022!
But with all the boundless joy – the memorable football evening was also a little clouded, not everything was for the fans to celebrate. Three highlights:
- Banner Dispute: Shortly before kick-off, the Frankfurt fans unrolled a 20-metre-long banner in their block – until security forces in the stadium tore away part of the choreography, as reported by broadcaster Sport1 and several visitors to the game on social networks. The banner may have been too big and covered parts of the Uefa advertising in the stadium. The Frankfurt fans therefore “returned the favor” in their own way and without further ado removed the advertising banners of the European Football Union.
- Beverage shortage I: The water supply at the Seville stadium appears to have been inadequate. With more than 30 degrees Celsius at kick-off, only two drink stands were open in the upper tier of the arena, criticized among others Eintracht Frankfurt’s new youth coach Ralph Gunesch and “T-Online” journalist Lars Wienand on Twitter. Allegations of this increased on social media during the night. “Since the kick-off there has only been one stand with only beer (a six-pack of water arrives every ten minutes),” wrote Gunesch.” The DPA news agency asked Uefa, as the organizer of the final, for a statement – initially there was no answer.
- bottle throws: Even on the eve of the final, not everything remained peaceful. Frankfurt and Glasgow supporters clashed in Seville, and on the evening of the game itself things got turbulent 1,800 kilometers to the north-east in Frankfurt. According to the police, patrol cars were damaged by fans who climbed onto the roof, and some revelers are said to have thrown bottles at the police officers. There were initially no reports of injuries. “It’s a sea of shards,” said a police spokesman the morning after.
The Eintracht Frankfurt team should return to the city in the evening. A reception is planned at the Römer, to which several tens of thousands of people are expected – then hopefully without banner disputes and bottle throwing, but with enough drinks.
Sources: DPA news agency, Frankfurt police, sports1