Bilbao to meet Atletico in all-Spanish final
Reuters - Thursday 26 April 2012, 22:41
Fernando Llorente netted a
dramatic late winner for Athletic Bilbao to eliminate Sporting
and Atletico Madrid comfortably held on to a first-leg lead to
oust La Liga rivals Valencia on Thursday and set up an
all-Spanish Europa League final.
A 3-1 success for Bilbao, chasing their first continental
title, and the presence of their compatriots and 2010 winners
Atletico, who won 1-0 on the night, in the May 9 showpiece in
Bucharest may help ease Spanish pain in Europe this season.
The country's two heavyweight clubs, Real Madrid and
Barcelona, were dumped out of the Champions League this week.
Towering striker Llorente was the hero at a typically
vibrant San Mames, setting up Bilbao's first two goals and then
pouncing to volley the crucial strike two minutes from time that
took the Basques through 4-3 on aggregate.
"This is incredible," Llorente said in a television
interview, struggling to make himself heard over the fans
celebrating wildly in the stands.
"It's the first time I have felt like crying on a football
pitch," added the Spain international, whose nickname is the
Lion King due to his mane of thick blond hair. "That was without
doubt the most important goal I have ever scored."
Atletico won last week's semi-final first leg at their
Calderon stadium 4-2 and when Adrian powered home a stunning
goal from wide on the right on the hour at the Mestalla
Valencia's hopes of turning the tie around were crushed.
Diego Simeone's side had midfielder Tiago sent off in the
79th minute after players from both sides became involved in an
ugly melee and the Portuguese slapped Valencia striker Roberto
Soldado across the face to earn a straight red card.
It all came too late for the home side and Atletico cruised
to their 11th straight win in Europe this season as they claimed
a 5-2 aggregate success.
"We knew it would be difficult and they pressured us well,
which is to be expected here at the Mestalla," Simeone said in a
TV interview.
"In the second half we made a tactical change and didn't
suffer as many problems and we knew as time went on the spaces
would open up and the goal pretty much settled the tie."
DREAM FINAL
The last time two Spanish teams contested the final of the
competition formerly known as the UEFA Cup was in 2007, when
Sevilla beat Espanyol on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
Athletic were the only side in the last four never to have
won a European trophy, their only previous final coming in 1977
when they lost the UEFA Cup showpiece match to Juventus before
most of the current squad were even born.
Marcelo Bielsa's side grabbed the opening goal on Thursday
when Llorente cleverly chested a cross into the path of Markel
Susaeta who volleyed past Rui Patricio from close range.
Both sides drove forward at every opportunity and both had
chances before Sporting pulled level on the night in the 44th
minute when the ball fell to Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel on
the edge of the penalty area and he fired low into the corner.
Sporting's aggregate lead lasted a mere two minutes before
Llorente got his second assist when he set Ibai Gomez clear to
finish with a shot into the far corner in first half added time.
The second period followed a similar pattern to the first,
Bilbao's Javi Martinez heading against a post from a corner and
Emiliano Insua also striking the frame of the goal with a
powerful deflected low drive for Sporting.
With extra time looming, Llorente nipped in front of his
marker and diverted a Gomez centre in off the post to send the
home fans into raptures.
"It's the dream final," Susaeta said.
"The atmosphere was spectacular and we still haven't grasped
what we have done," he added. "Tomorrow we'll analyse it but we
do know we have done something great."
SPECTACULAR VOLLEY
At the Mestalla, Valencia poured forward in search of an
early goal to start the fightback but ran up against inspired
Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, on loan from Chelsea, who
kept them at bay.
The hosts had one of their brightest performers on the
night, Sergio Canales, carried off on a stretcher in tears with
what looked like a serious knee injury in the 59th minute and
almost immediately Adrian ended the game as a contest.
Diego sprayed the ball to the Spanish youth international
wide of the area and he chested it down and struck a spectacular
volley inside the far post.
"I controlled the ball and just put everything into the shot
and it went in," Adrian told Spanish TV.
"We knew they would come out at us strongly. We knew we had
to defend well and that's what we did. We withstood the pressure
and in the second half we were able to win the game.
"It says a lot about Spanish football that we have two teams
there and it should be a great final."
Atletico also beat Valencia in the quarter-finals in 2010 on
their way to winning the competition with an extra-time 2-1
victory over Fulham in Hamburg.