An all-Spanish European final might still be in the cards when the Europa League reaches Bucharest on May 9, but Oguchi Onyewu's Sporting Lisbon stands in the way and heads to Bilbao Thursday night, hoping to continue a string of effective away performances.
Sporting carries a 2-1 lead into that second leg semifinal, while Atletico Madrid will start with a 4-2 edge in their second game at Valencia.
Onyewu returned to the Sporting lineup at the weekend in a 3-2 victory at Naciona,l and was the highest-rated defender for the Lions in that Portuguese League success. He could feature in Sa Pinto's starting eleven in Bilbao after battling his way back from his latest injury setback.
Athletic will be looking to overturn their first leg deficit, a match where Sporting came on strong in the final 30 minutes after the visitors appeared to have the game under control. The only one of the last four never to have won a UEFA club competition, the Spaniards played an uncharacteristically sloppy game in Lisbon after having swept aside Manchester United and Schalke in previous rounds.
The visiting Lisbon Lions — both teams carry the same nickname — have not been quite that impressive, but have been extremely efficient in getting to within a step of the final. They knocked out Manchester City in the round of sixteen, scoring twice in the Etihad to preserve a slender first leg advantage, going through on away goals after a 3-3 draw. They played smart, controlled football in Ukraine to see off Metalist in the quarterfinals, so heading on the road for a second leg should hardly be daunting for Ricardo Sa Pinto's side.
Athletic needs to get some time from Fernando Llorente, Markel Susaeta or Iker Muniain in this match. All three were kept under control by Sporting in the first leg. The Portuguese have Ricky van Wolfswinkel at the head of their attack and the big man has demonstrated in previous away ties that he can ply a lone course very effectively.
In Valencia, Atletico Madrid will be favored to advance, but the home team's two away goals, both scored in stoppage time at the Vicente Calderon, mean that the tie is far from decided.
For Atletico's Colombia star Radamel Falcao, the return leg offers him a chance to reach the final for a second consecutive year, albeit with a different team. The winger helped FC Porto to the title a year ago before being acquired by Atletico this season.
There is also a personal goal within sight for the Atletico ace. With 27 goals in 27 European games he is threatening to equal the former Feyenoord, Celtic and Helsingborgs Henrik Larsson's all-time tally of 31. Larsson needed 45 matches to get those goals; Falcao's goal-a-game haul is unmatched at this level.
It was two goals from Falcao, along with strikes from Miranda and Adrian which seemed to have this one settled heading into the final minute a week ago. Up popped Ricardo Costa to head Valencia's second in the fifth minute of stoppage, a goal which certainly keeps the tie alive.
Atletico's dominance in the first leg owed as much to Brazilian midfielder Diego as it did to Falcao's scoring touch, while a solid defense kept the Valencia attack from kicking into life.
