AS Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt prepare to contest the 2022 Europa League final, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Oliver Glasner will preach a similar message to their squads.
It’ll go something like this: “We’ve beaten better teams to earn this position and if at our level, can win the competition.”
For the neutral, a final in which both teams view victory as realistic promises the ideal spectacle.
Rangers will take confidence from their own wins against fourth-placed RB Leipzig and runners up Borussia Dortmund. Equally, Frankfurt will count triumphs against Barcelona and West Ham as evidence that they can take the trophy back to Germany.
But where will the match be won and lost and, most importantly, how can Rangers bring home the Europa League?
Similar sides with key differences
When comparing data below, only knock-out rounds are considered. In part, because Rangers endured a managerial change during the group stages, as well as the more comparable nature of knock-out football to a final.
Both teams have defeated stronger opponents in slightly contrasting manners, as reflected in the attacking radar comparison.
If you’re new to a StatsBomb radar, think the bigger the better. It takes a team’s output across different metrics to offer a holistic view of style.
Rangers have created the higher xG (expected goals) and xG/Shot per 90, while recording fewer shots, demonstrating a better chance quality. The Ibrox side also boasts a far superior Set Piece xG, compared to Frankfurt’s rather low output in this area.
The German side near the boundaries in two areas, High Press shots and Counterattacking shots.
Defensively, today’s finalists have granted a similar quality of chance to the opposition. While their 0.43 Set Piece xG Conceded, in keeping with their attacking output, demonstrates an area in which they could prove vulnerable later today.
Rangers will take confidence from the meagre 0.63 Counterattacking shots they've conceded per 90 minutes. Given this is a real area of strength for Glasner’s side, attacking transitions promise to be a deciding factor in Seville.
Frankfurt's system
Glasner’s team can take many forms, dependent on the opposition. Here, in a 1-1 home draw with Real Betis, the in-possession shape resembled a 3-2-5, with Filip Kostic and Ansgar Knauff pushing high from wing-back and Daichi Kamada occupying the half-space alongside Jesper Lindstrom.
While in a famous 3-2 victory at the Nou Camp, Glasner’s side played in a deeper, more compact shape that found great success on the counter.
The xG and xG assisted charts pick out key attacking threats. Kamada, Kostic and Knauff.
The Kamada and Kostic partnership, in particular, Frankfurt’s left wing-back and left-sided attacker, has proven particularly dangerous.
Kamada and Jesper Lindstrom can fall back to form a midfield four or sit alongside Rafael Borre in a front three, Drijbil Sow and Kristijan Jakic form a double pivot ahead of the back three while Kostic and Knauff stretch the pitch, often positioning themselves aggressively to sit on the last line and facilitate the infield movement of Kamada and Lindstrom.
How do they attack?
In six knock-out games, Frankfurt have averaged 42 percent possession. It has been their strengths without the ball, and propensity to attack while the opposition remains in the attacking phase, that’s led them to this stage.
Their first goal in London during a 2-1 win over West Ham underlined how dangerous the wing-back system they deploy can be when facing a back four.
As Kamada moves forward with the ball in the below frame, the run of Kostic occupies West Ham right-back, Ben Johnson, allowing the visitors to progress up the pitch.
Kostic’s run may have only been a decoy, but it stretches the pitch and creates the necessary room for Borre to receive a pass.
The forward turns and crosses to the back-post where right-wing back, Knauff has established a couple of yards of space from Pablo Fornals. This allows him to get a run on the winger and score at the back post.
The goal started with Frankfurt transitioning quickly through the thirds and overloading on each side using their wing-backs.
On the left, Kostic created the necessary space for Kamada and Borre to impact proceedings, on the right, Knauff managed to isolate himself on a backtracking winger, with left-back Aaron Cresswell pinned infield, to score.
Their set-up, whether tweaked to look like a 5-4-1, 3-4-2 or 3-4-2-1, allows good pitch coverage. Frankfurt can maintain width when in and out of possession and commit numbers to press the ball if their opponent moves to the flank.
READ MORE: How Rangers' Giovanni van Bronckhorst became the 13th man with RB Leipzig solutions
This played out against Barcelona. Below, they’ve shifted to a back four and committed five men to condense the space and press the ball, eventually regaining it from Sergio Busquets.
Borre resists one of two clear passes through the defence to score an outrageous individual goal.
The strike was unique, but the circumstances were not. The German side’s second goal in Spain is another example of how the system they deploy has brought them to this stage covering the pitch, pressing in the right moments from the basis of a strong shape and committing numbers to the attack.
Later in the same game, from a throw-in, they would add a third to race into a three-goal lead at the Nou Camp. Notice again the overload on one side of the pitch and retention of width on the other.
As the ball is headed to the left, Sergio Dest is left two-v-one. Unable to close down Kamada due to Kostic’s presence on the last line, but not free to stick with the left-sided attacker and grant Kamada an open route to goal.
In the end, Kostic is forced wide yet still manages to reverse an accurate shot into the far corner.
Two examples later in the game tell us more about the Germans. In a deep 5-4-1 below they force possession wide before, you guessed it, overloading the flank to regain the ball.
Their reliance on counterattacks is outlined by the bodies they commit to such a situation. It's evident that they know these moments are their best opportunity to score.
In seconds they’ve played through the pitch to create a three-vs-three.
The same patterns repeat below.
A strike against Real Betis in the Round of 16 features similar themes. This time, pressure higher up the park is the catalyst for Kamada’s goal after Frankfurt create a three-vs-four on the right flank to spring a turnover.
How can Rangers win?
Frankfurt are yet to be beaten throughout the whole competition, while Rangers have lost on five occasions, and shouldn’t be judged on their 11th placed Bundesliga finish.
Glasner has built a strong unit, perfectly suited to European competition, who resemble a fleet of white arrows when attacking into space and, as demonstrated by the five high press shots they've created per 90, are well versed in winning the ball back high up the pitch.
Based on van Bronckhorst’s recent exploits, that isn’t the worst news.
Against RB Leipzig at Ibrox, and indeed in a home tie against Braga, a direct front to back approach played over opposition pressure.
READ MORE: Rangers' meteoric Europa League rise in matches: The pivotal moments that led to Seville
Both teams committed numbers to try and press the Rangers backline who progressed the ball directly. Leipzig, as shown in the pressure map below, found themselves unable to press high as a result.
Glen Kamara’s role in James Tavernier’s opener during that tie and the penalty Kemar Roofe earned against Braga both demonstrate the fruits of this approach.
Additionally, only four of the teams who qualified for the knock-out stages have conceded a lower number of counterattacking shots per 90 than Rangers.
Borna Barisic’s tendency to arrive in the final third rather than occupy it and Ryan Jack’s rotation into the backline to cover Tavernier helps to protect valuable spaces that opponents target in transition.
The flexibility introduced at Ibrox by the Dutchman could also prove useful. Rangers could opt for a back five as seen at points against Leipzig and Dortmund to match up and address the threat of a wing-back system.
The aggressive man-marking tactic utilised by van Bronckhorst could also prove decisive once again. If Rangers choose to start with a back five, Calvin Bassey and John Lundstram will stick close to Kamada and Lindstrom, preventing the creative outlets from receiving possession unopposed, as they did against Leipzig.
Finally, only three teams in the knock-out stage have a higher Set Piece xG per 90 than Rangers, while only two teams have conceded a higher Set Piece xG per 90 than Frankfurt. Showing clearly that an area of strength for Rangers is one of weakness for their opponents.
Immortality awaits this squad who have set the template for victory in previous rounds. If able to blunt the threats Frankfurt carry, Rangers have a clear path to Europa League glory.
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