Fernando Llorente powered Athletic Bilbao into its first European final since 1977 while Atletico Madrid joined them for what will be an all-Spanish Europa League showdown May 9 in Bucharest.
Llorente set up the first two goals, then scored the winner two minutes from time as Athletic Bilbao saw off a gritty Sporting Lisbon, winning 3-1 on Thursday night and 4-3 on aggregate.
Atletico Madrid used a goal from Adrian on the hour and another solid performance to complete a 5-2 aggregate victory over La Liga rival Valencia, sweeping their two-leg tie with a 1-0 victory.
Athletic's triumph gave manager Marcelo Bielsa another credit for his growing list of lightly regarded teams he has guided to major accomplishments. Bielsa put together the Chile side that performed beyond expectations at the 2010 World Cup before taking over at Athletic, for whom success in Spain, let alone in Europe, has been hard to come by against more famous opposition.
Llorente's performance echoed those of earlier rounds and will no doubt fuel the speculation that already has him rumored out the door come the summer transfer window. No less than the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United are said to be interested in the Athletic striker, and Thursday’s performance will certainly up the eventual price tag.
Llorente created the night's opening goal for Markel Susaeta when he knocked down a right wing cross from Iker Muniain, laying the ball into the path of the scorer, who half-volleyed home in the 17th minute.
That goal pulled Athletic even on aggregate at 2-2 but into the lead overall by virtue of having scored in Lisbon in the first leg. It also spurred a strong reply from Sporting.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel, the Lisbon side's main force all year, got his team level at 1-1 in the 44th minute with an 18-yard strike, but the accompanying overall lead did not last to the interval because Llorente cleverly slipped a pass between defenders that sprung Ibai Gomez to tally in stoppage time.
Thus the teams went to the interval level on both aggregate and away goals, headed for a second half that would be nervy to the finish. Indeed, it often appeared that Sporting would grab the vital goal, but Athletic rode the pressure. When it looked as if extra time was inevitable, Ibai Gomez opened the door to victory when he deked around a defender on the top left of the box and cut a cross to the near post.
It wasn't elegant, but Llorente stuck a foot out, directed the ball off that near post and over the line to secure Athletic its place in Romania. American Oguchi Onyewu was an unused sub for Sporting on Thursday night.
There was none of that drama in Valencia, where the home side started behind 4-2 from the first leg and never really looked able to find a way out of that hole. As in Madrid, the Valencia attack sputtered rather than surged, and it was always the visitors who looked just that bit crisper.
While Atletico Madrid ace Radamel Falcao did not add to his 27-goal European haul, his place in a second consecutive final was ensured when Diego's fine cross was chested down, then hammered to the far post by Adrian to make Atletico winners of both matches.
Falcao lifted the trophy with FC Porto a year ago, so perhaps he might be something of a talisman — as well as a feared striker — for Diego Simeone's side.
