david villa struck the final blow in a scintillating encounter to leave the all-spanish quarter-final all square after the first leg.
second-half goals from diego forlán and captain antonio lópez nearly brought club atlético de madrid a smash-and-grab 2-1 win against valencia cf at mestalla, but david villa levelled in the 82nd minute to strengthen unai emery's hand ahead of the uefa europa league quarter-final decider next thursday.
the level of valencia's scintillating creative play belied the absence of eight key first-team men. atlético stepped up to the plate, notably when simão crashed a shot off the post in the 12th minute plus when he beat two men and rolled a crafty effort through the legs of césar sánchez only for it to trickle along the goal line just before the break. however, the visitors were often swamped.
everything except valencia's final touch was convincing. rubén baraja released pablo hernández early on but even though the winger skipped round david de gea he stumbled and could not capitalise. atlético's keeper went on to save well from villa and david silva, but it was thanks to an exquisitely timed tackle by tomáš ujfaluši as villa was about to pull the trigger that valencia did not have a merited lead by the break.
however top-level football perpetually tells one particular story – take your chances or pay the price. with half an hour left the home side were caught over-exposed up field. winger jordi alba, standing in at full-back, failed to cut out sergio agüero's run from the halfway line and it teed up an open goal for his strike partner forlán.
valencia proved in the last round that they are made of stern stuff and responded admirably. atlético's lead lasted eight minutes until manuel fernandes crashed a 25-metre shot into the bottom right corner of de gea's net. the finale saw joy and pain all round; lópez headed home to make it 2-1 to the visitors and bruno saltor, suspended for the return, thumped a volley off the bar before villa got the all-important late leveller.
the home side weathered some late turbulence to reach the semi-finals.
quique sánchez flores guided club atlético de madrid to their first european semi-final in 11 years after los rojiblancos held valencia cf to a scoreless draw at the vicente calderón and secured an away goals triumph.
those expecting the intensity of the first leg – which ended 2-2 – to spill into the opening stages of the return encounter were left disappointed as both teams struggled to show a real cutting edge. sergio agüero, atlético's top scorer in europe this season, struck just wide from a tight angle and antonio lópez tried his luck from distance shortly afterwards but his effort was watched wide by césar sánchez in the valencia goal.
the former real madrid cf custodian looked more worried at the beginning of the second period when diego forlán bore down on his goal having been sent clean through by paulo assunção. screams of despair soon followed from the home supporters, however, when the uruguayan chipped wide of the upright. spurred on, atlético stepped up a gear and they went close again when tomáš ujfaluši controlled agüero's cutback before firing at césar.
prior to thursday's second leg, forlán had scored in his previous five enounters and he could not have come closer to making it six 15 minutes before the end when he unleashed a fierce right-footed shot from distance that was expertly tipped on to the post by césar. ten minutes before the end david villa almost stole it for valencia yet he too found the woodwork with just david de gea to beat. the 19-year-old goalkeeper was then called into action twice in succession, first palming away nikola Žigić's header before tipping over from david navarro but despite valencia's best efforts it was atlético who advanced to the last four.
maçta Žigić'in atletico'lular tarafından ceza alanı içinde yaka paça indirilmesine hakem devam dedi. Žigić hakeme koşup yırtılmış formasını gösterdi. galatasaray - atletico maçında da bariz bir penaltı verilmemiş ve atletico tur atlamıştı. velhasıl kelam "şansları" yaver gidiyor. bakalım nereye kadar gidecekler...
yardımcı hakemler: sönke glindemann (ger), holger henschel (ger)
4. hakem: manuel gräfe (ger)
çizgi hakemleri: babak rafati (ger), peter sippel (ger)
atlético: david de gea (gk), antonio lópez (c), diego forlán (dk. 84 ignacio camacho), raúl garcía, sergio agüero (dk. 90+5 eduardo salvio), paulo assunção, juanito, tomáš ujfaluši, álvaro domínguez, josé antonio reyes (dk. 46 josé manuel jurado), simão
yedekler: sergio asenjo (gk), pablo ibáñez, leandro cabrera, rubén pérez
teknik direktör: quique sánchez flores (esp)
valencia: césar sánchez (gk), hedwiges maduro, david villa (c), rubén baraja, juan mata (dk. 70 nikola Žigić), joaquín (dk. 70 vicente), manuel fernandes, pablo hernández, alexis (dk. 80 david navarro), david silva, jordi alba
yedekler: miguel ángel moyà (gk), david albelda, míchel, lillo
teknik direktör: unai emery (esp)
sari kartlar: dk. 24 josé antonio reyes, dk. 90+5 sergio agüero (atlético) dk. 34 joaquín, dk. 40 juan mata, dk. 74 david silva (valencia)
