Atletico Madrid have one foot in the Europa League final after demolishing Valencia 4-2 at home, while Sporting Lisbon managed to come from behind against Athletic Bilbao, earning a 2-1 victory that leaves that tie very much in the balance.
Sporting Lisbon Vs. Athletic Bilbao, 2012 Europa League Semifinal: Final Score 2-1 Sporting After Comeback Win
He wasn’t so lucky, however. With 15 minutes to go the hosts struck, with Emiliano Insúa taking advantage of a missed clearance to nod home the equaliser. Diego Capel made it 2-1 four minutes later when he found the bottom corner from 20 yards. Both sides tried to get a fourth goal as time wound down, but couldn’t manage it and the match ended at 2-1.
So the tie remains up in the air. A 2-1 win for the hosts in the first leg is, thanks to the away goal, a pretty much neutral result, and both sides will feel pretty confident in their chances of reaching the final.
Read Article >Atlético Madrid Vs. Valencia, 2012 Europa League Semifinals: Final Score 4-2 Atlético, Falcao Inspires Thrashing
Atlético Madrid look on course to reach the Europa League final following a 4-2 home win against Valencia. The hosts are seven points behind their opponents in the league, but that form didn’t seem to count for much at the Vicente Calderón, where a steady stream of second-half shots overwhelmed an unimpressive Los Che side.
They say that just before halftime is a bad time to concede, but the hosts showed no signs of a wobble and came out firing as soon as Craig Thomson sounded the restart. It took five minutes for Atlético to regain their lead, thanks to a mix-up in the Valencia defence, which saw Miranda left unmarked on a free kick and gave the defender an easy header past Diego Alves to make it 2-1.
Read Article >UEFA Europa League 2012: La Liga Dominates The Semifinal
Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao looks on during the la Liga match between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club de Bilbao at Camp Nou. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images) Getty ImagesWhile English and Italian sides have failed to take the UEFA Europa League seriously, La Liga is using it as a friendly little vehicle to move to the top of the UEFA Coefficient rankings. Also, the winner of the competition gets a trophy at the end. Who doesn’t like trophies? Only weird people don’t like trophies.
The Portuguese Liga and their teams have accomplished something similar. With the exception of this season’s gate-crashers Maritimo, it’s basically a four-team league, and it has been a three-team league in the not so recent past before Braga built themselves up. Last year, they had three teams in the Europa League semifinals. This year, La Liga has done the same.
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