Europa League: Valencia lead the Spanish domination of last four

John Nisbet
Thursday 05 April 2012 17:54 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Three Spanish clubs stormed into the semi-finals of the Europa League last night, giving an ample demonstration of the strength in depth in La Liga.

Valencia led the way, overcoming a 2-1 first-leg deficit by thrashing AZ Alkmaar 4-0 at the Mestalla, France defender Adil Rami scoring twice in quick succession in the first-half as they took early charge.

In the semi-finals Valencia will face Atletico Madrid who won 2-1 at Hannover to go through 4-2 on aggregate, Radamel Falcao getting their winner on the night with three minutes to go.

Athletic Bilbao, who knocked out Manchester United in the previous round, twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at home with Schalke to win through 6-4 overall.

The only non-Spanish side in the semi-finals is Sporting Lisbon, conquerors of Manchester City, who drew 1-1 at Metalist Kharkiv to edge out the Ukrainian side 3-2.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in