Rangers duo Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey have been nominated for the UEFA Europa League Player of the Week award.
The Super Eagles stars featured in Wednesday’s final against Eintracht Frankfurt where the Rangers lost 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes in the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, Seville.
Aribo gave Rangers the lead on 57 minutes with a cool finish but Frankfurt leveled matters 12 minutes later with a strike from Colombian forward, Rafael Borré.
The game went to a penalty shoot-out after neither team could produce a winner in the remainder of regulation time plus the 30 minutes of extra time. Frankfurt emerged 5-4 victors with Rangers midfielder Aaron Ramsey the only player to miss from the spot.
Aribo’s 57th-minute goal made him only the second Nigerian to score in a European club competition final, following Alex Iwobi’s strike in the 2019 Europa League final against Chelsea. Bassey’s performance on the night earned rave reviews. The 22-year-old was a standout in the center-back position.
Aribo and Bassey were shortlisted for the award along with Frankfurt’s heroes Borré and Kevin Trapp, the goalkeeper who saved an effort in the shoot-out. The nominees were confirmed on the official Europa League social media pages.
