Football Leagues » Europa League » Europa League April 2010
Europa League April 2010
Atletico in semifinals with one win in 12 games - Fulham & Liverpool progress
Ozren Podnar
Liverpool may just save an otherwise dire season by winning their fourth Europa League (first under the new name, after collecting three UEFA Cups by 2001). But the Reds will have to achieve that against the masters of the draw, Atletico Madrid.
The most curious detail of all is the fact that the home audience at Vicente Calderon have failed to see any European win for Atletico this season, as the red-and-whites only defeated Galatasaray in Istambul...with a Diego Forlan goal a minute from time. The side coached by Quique Flores could not even manage a win against Cyprus' Apoel in the Champions League, but went through to the Europa League on away goals (0-0 in Madrid, 1-1 in Nicosia).
The away-goals rule seems to have been invented for Atletico, because that is how they managed to progress this far; 0-0 and 2-2 against Sporting Lisbon in the round of 16, followed by 2-2 and 0-0 with their Spanish rivals Valencia. The last goalless draw at Calderon was marred by a scandalous refereeing decision with five minutes remaining. When Valencia's Nikola Zigic was brought down in the penalty area by Juanito with such violence that his shirt suffered a 5-inch tear, the ref remained silent, allowing the home team to scrape through yet again.
Liverpool on the other hand displayed magnificent form against Lille (3-1) and Benfica (4-1), but may be without Fernando Torres for the two games against his former team.
The return leg at fortress Anfield should be an advantage for Liverpool against this unpredictable Castilian side, languishing in the lower part of the Primera division table.
Fulham's Dream Continues
The other semifinal will provide an answer to the question whether the finals will be played with one of the teams having home soil advantage. Hamburger SV, whose stadium will host the finals, easily did away with Standard Liege and will next face the biggest surprise of the current European season, Fulham.
The London side, a perfect nobody in Europe (and not exactly a powerhouse in England either), shocked football fans everywhere by eliminating the UEFA Cup holders Shakhtar (2-1, 1-1), Juventus (1-3, 4-1) and the German champions Wolfsburg (2-1, 1-0) on their way to heights never ever experienced by the fans at Craven Cottage. The UEFA Cup had a habit of producing highly unlikely finalists like Alaves in 2001 or Middlesbrough in 2006, but in the end the big boys always held on to the trophy.
Hamburger, led by Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mladen Petric and Paolo Guerrero are by all means stronger than Fulham, but the same was true of the previous rivals of Roy Hodgson's team. This may just be the season when Fulham play in their first and only international final in their 131 year history, only to lose to Liverpool.
Semifinals
Atletico Madrid vs Liverpool (22nd and 29th April)
Hamburger SV vs Fulham (22nd and 29th April)
Semifinalists' results so far
Atletico Madrid
Round of 32
Atletico vs Galatasaray 1-1 2-1
Round of 16
Atletico vs Sporting Lisbon 0-0 2-2
Quarterfinals
Valencia vs Atletico 2-2 0-0
Liverpool
Round of 32
Liverpool vs Unirea 1-0 3-1
Round of 16
Lille vs Liverpool 1-0 0-3
Quarterfinals
Benfica vs Liverpool 2-1 1-4
Hamburger SV
Preliminaries
Rangers vs Hamburger 0-4 1-0
Guingamp vs Hamburger 1-5 3-1
Group stage
Rapid Vienna vs Hamburger 3-0 0-2
Hamburger vs Hapoel T. A. 4-2 0-1
Celtic vs Hamburger 0-1 0-0
Round of 32
Hamburger vs PSV 1-0 2-3
Round of 16
Hamburger vs Anderlecht 3-1 3-4
Quarterfinals
Hamburger vs Standard 2-1 3-1
Fulham
Preliminaries
Vetra vs Fulham 0-3 0-3
Fulham vs Amkar Perm 3-1 0-1
Group stage
CSKA Sofia vs Fulham 1-1 0-1
Fulham vs Basel 1-0 3-2
Roma vs Fulham 1-1 1-2
Round of 32
Fulham vs Shakhtar 2-1 1-1
Round of 16
Juventus vs Fulham 3-1 1-4
Quarterfinals
Fulham vs Wolfsburg 2-1 1-0
UEFA Cup - all the previous match reports, news and analysis from the old UEFA Cup.
|
|
