Atletico beat Athletic
Like last year, the 2011-12 Europa League had an emphatic
Iberian flavour to it. For the second
time in three years, Atletico Madrid won the trophy beating an iconic and
youthful Athletic Bilbao, 3-0. Last
year’s top marksman Radamel Falcao collected his second Europa League in
successive years, along with the top scorer’s award, as he followed up his
title with Porto in 2011, with the Rojiblancos
this season; scoring 12 times in the process. Madrid have always fancied knockout tourneys and after a slow start,
built up enough steam to once again seal the silverware. Their win over Bilbao in the final was played
out at the National Arena in Bucharest, Romania, on May 9, 2012. The winner earned the right to play Chelsea
for the 2012 UEFA Super Cup.
Madrid seems to have found some harmony with a solid fifth place
finish in La Liga to follow up their latest triumph in Europe. Their win and encouraging season overall is a
symbol of their shrewd team building policy. Madrid have been built in three layers. Their effervescent youth of Adrian Lopez (third
highest scorer in the competition with eight goals), Thibault Courtouis, in
goal, and Fran Merida. The established
core of top quality talent in their mid to late twenties in Falcao, Arda Turan,
Diego, Gabi and Juan Fran. The veterans
to hold everything together, in Paulo Assuncao and Antonio Lopez. The blend was successful despite the
diversity of the nationalities on display. One can expect more things from this talented
team as new manager Diego Simeone turned around the fortunes for a misfiring
outfit after being handed the reins in December. Under previous incumbent Gregorio Manzano,
Atletico were slumping in La Liga and looked distant in the Europa League. Madrid went 14 years without a trophy after
their double in 1996. Now they’ve won
Europe’s second most prestigious contest, twice in three years.
Their opponents in the final are no slouches themselves, as
Athletic Bilbao were the star turns of this year’s tournament and indeed, many
neutrals’ favourites for the final itself. Before any discussion begins on Bilbao, one must first pay homage to the
unique culture that exists at the Basque club. The club has a policy where all players must
be of Basque descent. Not just Spanish, Basque. Now, while the
policy has been relaxed of late to allow players who are not of full Basque
heritage or born in other countries, it is still a remarkable rule. And one that resonates in an era where club
sides have no compunction in playing a starting XI made up wholly of foreign
players. It would be noteworthy if the roster was restricted to Spanish
players only, but the further imposition of them being Basque is downright
astounding, and respectable.
Bilbao have never been relegated from the Spanish top flight. They were a mainstay of the League
Championship in the 1980s and in recent years have consistently finished in the
upper echelons of the table. Overall,
they are Spain’s fourth most successful club. Their fast passing, yet
robust style has tripped up many a continental giant. This year,
they comfortably saw off the challenge of Manchester United, with a 5-3
aggregate victory that resembled a whipping at times. Beating a
heavyweight is one thing, but outclassing a team that has made the final of the
Champions’ League three times in the past five years is epochal. Their youth have been earmarked by many of
Europe’s top clubs and under the eccentric, but brilliant genius of Marcelo
Bielsa, Bilbao look to regain their Champions’ League status while re-establishing
themselves as one of the Europe’s elite.
And the journey to that destination starts with the Europa
League. With a long journey into the final stages of a knockout Cup under their
belts, this team can only go from strength to strength. However many of
Europe’s elite are already casting covetous eyes towards their roster with
Oscar Marcos, Fernando Llorente and Ander Herrera attracting a lot of
attention. Time will tell whether this was the peak of a team that falls away or
just an anecdote of a golden generation.
The tournament started in July
and August with three rounds of qualifying before settling into its now
traditional opening stage of 12 four team groups. Early notables to fall by the wayside were
Fulham, the London club who made the 2010 final, 2011 Carling Cup winners
Birmingham City, Scottish giants Celtic, Ukrainian top dogs Dynamo Kiev and
most surprisingly, Tottenham Hotspur, who were for a while, outside bets to win
the 2012 Premiership altogether. Belgian clubs Standard Liege and Club Brugge
were particularly impressive, topping their respective groups, losing only once
between them. Other group winners
included PSV Eindhoven, Schalke and the two finalists themselves. Also going through were first time
participants Stoke City and Italian heavyweights Lazio, second in their
respective groups.
The main criticism of the
tournament is the fact that it absorbs the rejects from the Champions’ League
into its first knockout stage. The eight 3rd place group finishers
join the tournament in February and often threaten to steal the thunder and
media attention from the original participants. However, this is a double edged sword as the inclusion of high profile
teams lends crucial glamour to the tournament. Notably, this season’s relegation of both Manchester United and
Manchester City meant a tenth of the world’s population suddenly tuned into the
matches on Thursdays. You just can’t
beat that kind of attention.
However, after seeing off Ajax
and Last season’s winner Porto, respectively, both English giants came unstuck
in the round of 16, as Sporting CP and Bilbao produced ties of remarkable
football. Thereafter, it was complete
domination from the Iberian clubs as Sporting setup a tie against Bilbao, while
Madrid renewed their rivalry with the favourites for the tournament, fellow La
Liga side Valencia. A thrilling pair of
ties saw 14 goals between them as Bilbao edged their Portuguese opponents 4-3
on aggregate while Madrid thrashed Valencia 5-2. Once again Falcao and Adrian were peaking at
the right time while Fernando Llorente kept sparkling for Bilbao. In the event, one of the season’s most highly
sought after finals played out to the sway of the Madrileno tree as Atletico
regained the trophy.
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