UEFA Europa League: Bilbao Destroy Schalke

Falcao put his team up early with an absolutely brilliant header on a free kick. Because of the straight-on angle of the free kick, a shot looked like the best option for Atléti, but Gabi found Falcao’s head instead, and the Colombian international directed the ball into the back of the net.

Diouf’s goal was scored from close range and was one of few Hannover shots on target during the game. In the 38th minute, Lars Stindl set him up with a great low cross into the box, and Diouf finished the chance from the edge of the 6-yard box.

Raúl answered instantly, touching in a low near-post cross by Jefferson Farfán to equalize. He would put his team ahead in the second half with an absolutely stunning strike, hitting a volley from 25 yards out to give Schalke a 2-1 lead. They would control the game from that point until the Athletic equalizer, at which point things fell apart.

At halftime, Hildebrand came out for Mathias Schober, Schalke’s fourth-string keeper. He didn’t do any better than the man he replaced. Llorente completed a brace in the 73rd minute with a brilliant header on a corner kick, though that goal was not Schober’s fault. On the next two, he definitely could have done better.

For the first half, it seemed to work. Metalist didn’t really do much on the attack, but they also didn’t look to be under any major threat as Sporting dominated play but failed to endanger Alexandr Goryainov’s goal. That changed after the break, with Marat Izmailov slamming home a low cross following some excellent work down the left flank by Diego Capel. Emiliano Insúa made it 2-0 with a free kick, taking advantage of a huge gap in Metalist’s wall and sending a fizzing shot into the bottom corner.

It would have been very difficult to recover from a 2-0 first-leg loss, and so Metalist went on the attack, opening up the game and setting the tone for a furious last few minutes. All seemed in vain until Marko Devic struck, the substitute bursting into the box only to be brought down by Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patrício. Cleiton Xavier powered home the penalty to reduce the deficit to one and give the visitors a huge away goal. The return fixture in the Ukraine looks set to be very interesting indeed.

Atletico Madrid have been brilliant in the UEFA Europa League, but recent poor results in La Liga have seen them slide down to eighth place, eight points out of fourth spot. Their best route to UEFA Champions League might be winning this competition. Their opponents on Thursday, Hannover 96, are in very good form and will be tough to keep off the scoreboard if previous away games are any indication.

Hannover lost on the weekend in Bundesliga, but played well in a 2-1 loss away to Bayern Munich. Prior to that game, their previous two results were a 4-1 win over Cologne and a 4-0 win over Standard Liege in Europa League. In both of their knockout stage away games, they have been able to score, giving themselves an advantage heading into the second leg of both ties.