Atletico Madrid and Sporting Lisbon on Thursday took out an option on places in the Europa League final, but neither will feel completely safe when they head on the road for second-leg tests next week.
Atletico Madrid will be wondering exactly why they lead only 4-2 after conceding two potentially vital away goals on a night they outplayed Valencia by the length of the Vicente Calderon Stadium field.
Sporting Lisbon will know that, if not for some good fortune, they would have been two goals down an hour into their home match against Athletic Bilbao. Only a heroic spell pulled them from the brink to an eventual 2-1 triumph.
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Atletico Madrid got a masterful midfield performance from the Brazilian Diego and two goals from Colombian star Falcao and were so often on the attack and in control that Valencia's two goals looked out of place on the night.
Falcao opened the account with an 18th-minute header from Arda Turan's approach work, but Atletico squandered chances the rest of the first 45 and found themselves even at the interval when Jonas was left unmarked to tuck in Adil Rami's header-on to a corner three minutes into first-half stoppage.
Atletico regained control immediately after the restart and were ahead 3-1 in 10 minutes. First, Diego flighted a 25-yard free kick onto Miranda's head, then Adrian blew past Victor Ruiz and tucked away a shot from the right in the 55th minute. When Falcao produced an Arjen Robben-esque move, drifting from the right to the top of the D before unleashing an unstoppable blast, the home team was coasting 4-1 and their supporters probably were checking their iPhones for hotel reservations in Bucharest for the May 9 final.
But some of the joy evaporated on the final play of the night when Tino Costa's corner found Ricardo Costa to head past a rooted Thibault Courtois five minutes into the stoppage spell. It was hardly great goalkeeping and could ultimately prove costly if Valencia can find its missing attack next Thursday.
In Lisbon, the home fans did not see the Athletic Bilbao team that shredded Manchester United and Schalke, but they were still staring defeat in the face when Jon Aurtenetxe put the visitors ahead in the 53rd. Seven minutes later came the turning point, with Fernando Amorebiete slamming a shot off the Sporting goal post when it appeared Athletic would make it 2-0.
Sporting responded 10 minutes later as Emiliano Insua closed in quickly to head in a weak clearance attempt, then Diego Capel won it for Ricardo Sa Pinto's revitalized bunch with a 22-yard drive after Marat Izmailov set up the chance. His threaded goal eluded three defenders, the keeper and the post for the goal of the night.
Sporting thus won for the ninth time in nine tries at home since Sa Pinto took charge and head to Spain with a reasonable chance to make that trip to Romania next month. Athletic, appearing out of sorts and unable to unleash their attack effectively, will need to be much sharper if they want to visit Bucharest.
