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Europa League Final Preview
Fulham and Atletico contest the oddest final of all
Ozren Podnar
What a strange season in the rebranded UEFA Cup, now known as the Europa League. The competition, supposedly designed to feature the best continental teams apart from those in the Champions League, will have its unexpected climax in a match between Atletico Madrid and Fulham.
Why aren't Liverpool and Roma playing for the trophy? Or Valencia versus Shakhtar? Or Aston Villa versus Benfica? Or Marseille versus Everton? Or Werder versus...in fact, anybody except these two?
Atletico's presence is less of an injury to the stature of the competition thanks to their past glory and a couple of high-profile internationals like Forlan, Aguero, Reyes, Simao and Ujfalusi. The winners of nine Spanish League titles, nine Spanish Cups, a Cup Winners' Cup and an Intercontinental Cup Atletico used to be a real force in Europe from the early sixties through the nineties, until their sensational, inexplicable relegation to the Segunda Division in 2000.
Fulham on the other hand are a total newbie on the continental scene, having taken part in just one edition of a continental cup before this season.
The club that prides itself on being the oldest professional club in London do not really have much to show apart from their, well, old age. Fulham have never won a single prestigious trophy and are not near to being the top club even in West London.
Their current stars? You won't find any on the team. They are owned by Mohamed Al Fayed of Harrod's fame and coached by Roy Hodgson, formerly of Inter Milan and Switzerland. Fulham's biggest names, of sorts, Duff, Murphy and Davies are throwaways from bigger clubs and Zoltan Gera is not a major star even in a mediocre Hungarian national team. Admittedly, there is a legendary name in Fulham's attack, but Bobby Zamora is not related to the late goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora or the classy midfielder Jesus Maria Zamora, both of Spain.
Heroes from Craven Cottage
It's amazing that such a mediocre outfit like Fulham have reached these heights. Their place in the finals cannot even be explained by the overall strength of the Premier League, because the principal English teams - Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool have not really looked like the representatives of the world's strongest soccer league in their recent losses to Inter, Bayern, Barcelona and Atletico.
While it is easy easy to dismiss Fulham's success as a fluke (which it most certainly is), nothing can be taken away from their achievement. They have utterly deserved their place in Hamburg on May 12th, however badly it may reflect upon the importance of UEFA's Europa League.
For Fulham have honestly outplayed their four rivals in the knockout phase of the competition, starting with last year's UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk, on to Juventus (after being 1-4 down on aggregate early in the second leg!) and German champions Wolfsburg before overcoming Hamburger SV in another thriller, having needed two goals to go through midway through the second half. For a while it looked as if Hamburger, the hosts of the Wednesday's final, would pull it off thanks to Petric's long-distance free kick. Still, Davies and Gera turned the game around and kept Craven Cottage unconquered for a 15th European game.
Atletico as false favourites
In fact it was Atletico, not Fulham, who barely scraped through from one stage to the next, all the way to the finals. First there were those miserable performances in their Champions League group (zero wins, three draws and three defeats), in which Atletico weren't even able to defeat Apoel of Cyprus. Still, three points were enough to help the Spaniards qualify for the Europa League ahead of Apoel, where they continued in the same tottering style.
In the eight following games, Atletico won just two (2-1 at Galatasaray and 1-0 against Liverpool), drawing five. On three occasions, the red-and-whites went through on away goals, and the fourth time with just one goal in favour. Diego Forlan turned out to be the crucial element in Atletico's advance, scoring both the goals which did away with Liverpool.
The last two times when "minnows" reached a final of a European competitions, the logic prevailed and the favourites won: in 2001 Liverpool overcome Alaves by 5-4 in extra-time, while in 2006 Sevilla thrashed Middlesbrough 4-0. Analyzing the two teams position by position, Atletico should defeat Fulham and win their third big international trophy. However, position by position, all of Fulham's previous rivals were superior...on paper. Will the sensational run of Hodgson's men come to an end in Hamburg, or will Fulham win their first, totally unlikely trophy after 140 years of existence?
Europa League results
Semifinals
Atletico Madrid vs Liverpool 1-0 1-2
Hamburger SV vs Fulham 0-0 1-2
Path to the finals
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
Semifinals
Atletico vs Liverpool 1-0 1-2
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
Fulham vs Roma 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
Semifinals
Hamburger SV vs Fulham 0-0 1-2
UEFA Cup - all the previous match reports, news and analysis from the old UEFA Cup.
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