Europa League wrap: Bilbao, Atletico set up all-Spanish final

27 April 2012 03:46

Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid will contest an all-Spanish Europa League final after contrasting semi-final victories on Thursday.

Bilbao beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1 at the San Mames to overturn a first-leg deficit and progress 4-3 on aggregate.

The Portuguese side had claimed a 2-1 victory in Lisbon a week ago, but goals from Markel Susaeta, Ibai Gomez and Fernando Llorente were enough to see Marcelo Bielsa's team progess, despite a Ricky Van Wolfswinkel goal.

Bielsa's side were applying heavy pressure and the breakthrough came on 17 minutes when Susaeta volleyed home from an Iker Muniain cross.

Sporting set out in pursuit of an equaliser and found it one minute before half-time. A corner created confusion in the Bilbao box and Van Wolfswinkel capitalised by sending a left-footed volley into the bottom corner.

But the visitors let down their guard from the restart, and Llorent held up the ball before playing in Gomez, who beat goalkeeper Rui Patricio to ensure the tie was level at 3-3 on aggregate at the break.

Both sides had chances to go ahead in the second half, but the Portuguese resistance was finally broken with just two minutes remaining.

Gomez sent a low ball across the face of goal, and Llorente stuck out a leg to prod the ball into the net, via the post, to send Bilbao into their first European final since 1977.

Atletico Madrid earned their place in the tournament showpiece in Bucharest with a 1-0 win over Valencia in a heated clash at the Mestalla.

Atletico were kept under severe pressure by Valencia for the best part of an hour, but a fantastic goal from Adrian was enough to see them through, even after Tiago's dismissal with 11 minutes remaining.

Goals were definitely on the agenda for Valencia who, with a 4-2 deficit to overturn from the first-leg in the capital, set out their stall to attack right from the start.

But despite putting Atletico under relentless pressure, they could not break through, and the visitors hit back on the counterattack to devastating effect.

Diego clipped a perfectly-weighted ball over the top of the defence towards Adrian, who took it onto his chest before ripping an unstoppable half-volley past Alves for his 10th goal in the tournament.

Tempers flared with 10 minutes to go, as confusion following an apparent handball in the area saw both sets of players square up to each other.

Simeone even rushed off the bench to calm the ruckus, which ended when Tiago was shown his marching orders by the referee after slapping Roberto Soldado.

Valencia made no further inroads despite the numerical advantage, with Atletico on course for their second Europa League title in three years.

Simeone praises ´heroic´ victory

27 April 2012 01:52

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is thrilled to see his side reach the Europa League final following the 1-0 victory against Valencia.

A goal from Adrian on the hour mark sealed Atletico's passage to Bucharest after the first leg at the Vicente Calderon had finished 4-2 in favour of Simeone's side.

"I am happy for my players, who are making a huge effort," Simeone said. "It is heroic what they are doing, playing twice a week, with a squad which is not too big and has had injuries.

"I am also happy for the club's officials, who have trusted us, and for the fans, who are proud of supporting Atletico tonight."

The final will be an all Spanish affair, with Atletico to take on fellow La Liga sie athletic Bilbao in the final on May 9 in Bucharest.

Simeone said he was looking forward to meeting Bilbao in the final, especially compatriot Marcelo Bielsa.

"Athletic are having an extraordinary campaign, reaching the final in the Europa League and in the Copa del Rey," he said.

"I would like to congratulate them. I know Marcelo and this will be a final between friends, but each will obviously want to win."

Valencia coach Unai Emery had no complaints about the result, but was disappointed his side could not find an early goal to make things interesting.

"They were better and deserved to win," Emery said. "It was key for us to score a goal and we were not able to do this.

"We were close to scoring in the first half, but that was not enough. If we had scored, we would have taken the match to our side, but that was not the case.

"I am happy with the fact that we were all together, fans and team, but the first leg played a key role."

Emery said his side would now refocus on their La Liga campaign as they fight to secure third place and a Champions League berth for next season.

"The most important thing now is that Valencia can compete at the highest level in Europe again and for that, La Liga is the way," he said.

"We are sad that we will not play any final, neither in the Copa del Rey, nor in the Europa League, but now we have to focus on our main goal, which is to qualify for the Champions League."

Simeone braced for Valencia assault

26 April 2012 03:06

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has predicted another exciting match against Valencia in the Europa League semi-finals.

Simeone's team defeated Valencia 4-2 in the first leg at Estadio Vicente Calderon last week, earning the aggregate lead going into the return fixture at the Mestalla on Thursday.

But the Argentine coach knows the tie is far from over, and expects Unai Emery's team to push hard in a bid to overturn the deficit.

"I think it's going to be a very important game, a game with a lot of intensity," Simeone said.

"I've already played two games against Valencia and they've always scored against us in different ways. But to be honest I'm expecting a very similar game to the first leg. So we are working on that basis.

"This is not about feelings, it's about what we see on the pitch, and what I see is a very difficult game against Valencia. We saw that in the first leg. The reality is on the pitch.

"And at the end of the day you get what you deserve. Tomorrow is going to be a very big game, one of those that players love to be involved in."

"Obviously they're in a bit of a sticky situation because they're behind. But we're not going to Valencia to watch, we're going to try and win."

The winner of Atletico's tie against Valencia will face either fellow La Liga side Athletic Bilbao or Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon in the final.

Europa League preview: All Spanish final on the cards

25 April 2012 21:47

Atletico Madrid have one foot in the Europa League final, and could yet meet Athletic Bilbao in an all-Spanish decider on May 9.

The second team in the Spanish capital, Atletico have enjoyed considerable improvement in their fortunes since former midfielder Diego Simeone took over as coach in December.

They defeated Unai Emery's Valencia 4-2 at home in the semi-final first leg last week.

Valencia are seven points above Atletico in La Liga and on course for Champions League qualification, demonstrating the extent of the achievement if Simeone's players do progress past the third-ranked team in Spain.

Despite their two-goal aggregate lead, advancing to the final is no formality for Atletico. Valencia remain a dangerous prospect and have the advantage of two away goals prior to the return fixture at Estadio Mestalla on Thursday.

Emery's side defeated Real Betis 4-0 in their last outing on Sunday, while Atletico saw off Espanyol 3-1 at home.

In the other semi, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal hold a 2-1 lead going into their second leg away to Athletic Bilbao.

Following the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa as coach, fresh from his stint in charge of Chile, Athletic have been one of the success stories of the European season.

Playing a high-tempo, pressing game, they defeated English Premier League champions Manchester United 5-3 on aggregate in the round of 16, before seeing off Bundesliga side Schalke 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

Athletic are sixth in La Liga, and on course to earn a place in the Europa League again next season.

They led Sporting 1-0 in the first leg last week, but conceded twice in the last 14 minutes to cast serious doubt over their progression to the final.

Sporting have underwhelmed in Liga Sagres this term, and sit 13 points back from leaders Porto in fourth place.

But they overcame English Premier League title contenders Manchester City in the round of 16, going through on away goals following a 3-3 aggregate draw.

And Ukrainian outfit Metalist Kharkiv were dispatched 3-2 over two legs of the semi-finals.

Sporting have stated their credentials to become the third Portuguese team to reach the final in the last two seasons, following Porto's victory over Braga last year.

It will be up to Bielsa's Athletic to stop them if we are to see two Spanish clubs fight for the trophy at the Arena Nationala, Bucharest, next month.

Emery: ´This match is for men´

25 April 2012 20:15

Valencia coach Unai Emery has urged his players to forget about the scoreline as they look to overcome a 4-2 deficit against Atletico Madrid.

Valencia host Atletico in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.

Emery's side have never lost at home to a La Liga team in Europe, while their opponents have never won a European away game on Spanish soil.

Valencia striker Roberto Soldado looks likely to retain his spot after scoring in the 4-0 La Liga win against Real Betis on Monday.

Midfielder Ever Banega, however, remains out with a broken ankle.

"Well the way you cope with your emotions is very important," Emery said.

"This match is for men, it doesn't matter their names.

"They need to be able to get over any negative sensation they have on the pitch.

"They need to give everything they have, put their soul into it. They need to avoid the anxiety, keep it under control.

"We need to play focused and perform at our best, nothing else.

"That's something that should be happening in every match but obviously there are matches with special facts such as being really excited for the possibility of playing in a final.

"We can tell it's a very important match for everyone.

"Having said that, we need to play at our very best and forget about everything and then we'll see what the team is capable of.

"So far they have been able to play that way and tomorrow we have a match that won't be balanced but we have the capacity to turn it over."

Valencia midfielder David Albelda conceded his side faces an uphill battle to reach the final in Bucharest on May 9.

"We didn't perform at our best (in the first leg) and we conceded too many goals, especially taking into consideration that we were in a European semi-final," Albelda said.

"We will suffer a lot because they were better in every aspect on the first leg but I think we are ready to at least try to amend that match."

The winner of Valencia and Atletico will take on either Athletic Bilbao or Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League decider.

Emery focused on Europa mission

23 April 2012 11:57

Valencia boss Unai Emery has turned his attention to a difficult Europa League clash against Atletico Madrid.

Goals from Jonas, Sofiane Feghouli, Roberto Soldado and Pablo Piatti saw Valencia to a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday.

But with his team trailing 4-2 in their Europa League semi-final tie against Atletico, Emery said a remarkable second-leg turnaround was 'difficult', but not impossible.

"We come from a bad result in Europa League but in the first leg we had the boost of a late goal," he said after the win over Betis.

"That goal gets us nearer to the title. It is a competition we dream of winning. The Europa League is a competition where our hopes are.

"We had no soul at (Vicente) Calderon, but we must have faith for the second leg. Today's victory against Betis gives us hope.

"The crowd were great tonight, I am happy with our game and on Thursday we must keep all the positives from tonight's game to turn the situation around.

"The difficulty of the task will make us work harder."

Valencia welcome Atletico Madrid to Estadio Mestalla on Thursday.