Football Leagues » Europa League » Europa League March 2010
Europa League March 2010
Fulham follow in the footsteps of Middlesbrough
Ozren Podnar
Hats of to Fulham for beating holders Shakhtar and Juventus in the last two sudden death rounds of the Europa League.
The feat performed by Fulham against Juventus reminded many of Steve McClaren and Middlesbrough's successful run four years ago. In 2005/06 Boro overcome significant odds and first leg deficits ousting Basel and Steaua on the way to the finals, both times having to score four goals in the final hour in order to progress.
That is exactly what Fulham were obliged do after David Trezeguet put Juve in front early in the return match at Craven Cottage.
Being 4-1 up would have sufficed for most teams, but Juventus are not what they used to be. What with Fabio Cannavaro's sending off on the half hour mark and some inept defending, Fulham went 3-1 in front, equalizing the tie with over 40 minutes to go.
An undermanned Juve did not even make it to extra time, succumbing to a late Clint Dempsey goal, setting the stage for yet another trophy-less season. Joining Fulham in the last eight were Liverpool, led by Fernando Torres to a neat 3-0 win over Lille as Liverpool progressed 3-1 on aggregate.
While Liverpool will face an uphill battle against Portuguese leaders Benfica in the quarterfinals, Fulham will measure their strength against the unpredictable Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg. The tie may go either way as the Germans have displayed an erratic form this season, recently losing to the bottom Bundesliga team Hertha 1-5 at home, but beating the fancied Russian champs Rubin in the Europa League.
Spanish Interest
There is bound to be at least one Spanish representative in the semifinals, as Atletico meet Valencia after both came off victorious from their round-of-16 thrillers. David Villa's hat-trick helped Valencia overcome last year's finalists Werder on away goals, while Sergio Aguero's brace pushed Atletico past Sporting in Lisbon.
Hamburger SV have been dealt a relatively easy opponent in Standard Liege and will certainly be especially motivated to progress towards the finals, which will be played on their own stadium on May 12th. If both German teams go through, they will meet in the semis, while the winner of Benfica vs Liverpool will see it out with the better of the two Spanish teams.
Round of 32 results
Everton vs Sporting Lisbon 2-1 0-3
Rubin Kazan vs Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-0 0-0
Lille vs Fenerbahce 2-1 1-1
Standard Liege vs Salzburg 3-2 0-0
Villarreal vs Wolfsburg 2-2 1-4
Club Brugge vs Valencia 1-0 0-3
Twente vs Werder 1-0 1-4
Ajax vs Juventus 1-2 0-0
Hamburger vs PSV Eindhoven 1-0 2-3
Liverpool vs Unirea Urziceni 1-0 3-1
Fulham vs Shakhtar 2-1 1-1
Atletico Madrid vs Galatasaray 1-1 2-1
Panathinaikos vs Roma 3-2 3-2
Hertha vs Benfica 1-1 0-4
Copenhagen vs Olympique Marseille 1-3 1-3
Athletic Bilbao vs Anderlecht 1-1 0-4
Round of 16 results
Hamburger vs Anderlecht 3-1 3-4
Rubin Kazan vs Wolfsburg 1-1 1-2
Atletico Madrid vs Sporting Lisbon 0-0 2-2
Lille vs Liverpool 1-0 0-3
Benfica vs Olympique Marseille 1-1 2-1
Panathinaikos vs Standard 1-3 0-1
Juventus vs Fulham 3-1 1-4
Valencia vs Werder 1-1 4-4
Quarterfinal ties
Fulham vs Wolfsburg
Hamburger vs Standard Liege
Valencia vs Atletico Madrid
Benfica vs Liverpool
Semifinal ties
Winner Hamburger vs Standard vs winner Fulham vs Wolfsburg
Winner Valencia vs Atletico vs winner Benfica vs Liverpool
UEFA Cup - all the previous match reports, news and analysis from the old UEFA Cup.
Post your comment
Comments
No one has commented on this page yet.
RSS feed for comments on this page | RSS feed for all comments
|
|
