Europa League Final 2012: Falcao Guides Atleti To Win

It was no surprise, then, that the Colombian was the difference during the the Battle of The Two Different Spellings Of ‘Athletic’, which is probably not going to be a nickname that catches on. He turned a tense affair into a rout, singlehandedly catapulting Atletico into a 2-0 lead in the first half. Seven minutes in, he unleashed a brilliant shot on the turn, using Jon Aurtenetxe as a screen as he bent the ball into Gorka Iraizoz’s top corner*.

*Fun fact: If you say all of the surnames on the Athletic Club squad list out loud seven times, it summons Cthulhu from the sunken city of R’lyeh. Don’t try this at home. We recommend a wide-open space.

Atletico Madrid dominated the early stages, with Athletic incredibly wasteful in possession and surprisingly porous in defence. Atleti right winger Adrian was looking particularly dangerous, and he nearly made the most of a promising spell by Jon Aurtenetxe inside out before a swarm of green shirts got back and relieved him of possession. However, that only delayed the inevitable, and on the next attack Falcao struck.

It was not a position you’d expect anybody but one of the world’s best centre forwards to turn into an unstoppable goal. Unfortunately for Athletic, that’s exactly what Falcao is. Checked away from his planned run towards Gorka Iraizoz’s goal, he merely danced back a step and sent a lovely curling drive straight into the top corner from twelve yards. Atleti were 1-0 up, six minutes in.

Diego Simeone has done nothing of the sort with his Atletico Madrid side. They played their best team at the weekend and pulled off a huge win over Malaga to keep themselves in the race for fourth. Depending on Malaga’s result at the weekend and their performance on Wednesday, Atleti could have two shots to clinch a berth in next season’s Champions League.

Of course, that’s a very far-off reward. On Wednesday, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will be playing for the immediate reward of a trophy. Like last season when two Portuguese sides faced off, two teams from the same country fight for the trophy once again after La Liga sides thoroughly dominated the competition.