Juventus sent Eintracht Frankfurt a message of congratulations that will rub salt into Aaron Ramsey’s wounds after the Europa League final.
The final of this season’s Europa League was between German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt and Scottish Premier League side Rangers. Perhaps not the final many people were expecting, seen as though both teams had to navigate tricky ties against some of the biggest names in European football.
Frankfurt came through over two legs against Barcelona in the quarter finals whilst Rangers got the better of Borussia Dortmund in the earlier knockout round play-off.
The two teams couldn’t be separated during regulation time after Rafael Borre cancelled out the opener from Rangers’ make shift striker, Joe Aribo.
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Ramsey, who is on loan at Rangers from Juventus, was brought on in the 117th minute in preparation for the penalty shootout. The Welshman took the fourth penalty for his side but saw his tame effort saved by Kevin Trapp. The German side ended up lifting the trophy after a 5-4 win in the shootout.
After the final whistle, Juventus took to social media to congratulate Frankfurt on their triumph, but offered no commiserations for their player.
Ramsey has endured a tough time in Italy recently, failure to get regular game time prompted his loan move to Rangers.
And it has been reported that Juventus could look to cancel Ramsey’s contract this summer, a year out from its expiration.
Ramsey did get full backing from his international team boss, Rob Page, who selected him for Wales’ upcoming World Cup play-off final.
Page was asked whether he still had faith in Ramsey, he replied: “Absolutely, 100 per cent.”
“It happens to the best in the world. It happened to Gareth (Bale) in the Euros. Top players, they put themselves up. I am so proud of him for putting himself up, he is a world class footballer.”
“He had the courage and conviction to take a penalty. Top players recover from that, no problem. I have no doubt whatsoever if it comes to penalties that he will take one.”
Ramsey now has a chance to put things right when his Rangers side face Hearts in the Scottish Cup final this weekend.
Topics: Aaron Ramsey, Juventus, Europa League, Eintracht Frankfurt
Marcus Chan