All-Spanish final set for Bucharest
- by Soccer America , Apr 26, 2012
[EUROPA LEAGUE] Barcelona and Real Madrid will miss out on the UEFA Champions League final, but two other Spanish clubs, Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid,
will compete for the Europa League crown. Athletic's 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon will deprive Oguchi Onyewu the chance to become the second American to compete
in a UEFA final.
Onyewu returned to the Sporting lineup in Portuguese league action last weekend but was on the bench as Sporting fell in Bilbao.
Fernando Llorente set up two goals, then scored in the 88th minute to give Athletic the 3-1 win that overcame its 2-1 loss in Portugal.
Atletico won, 1-0, at Valencia and
moved into the May 9 final in Bucharest, Romania, with a 5-2 victory.
Clint Dempsey was the first American to play in a European final, coming on
as a sub in Fulham's overtime loss to Atletico Madrid in the 2010 Europa League final.
Two Americans -- Jovan Kirovski and Thomas Dooley -- played on teams that won European titles, though they didn't play in the finals. Kirovski's Borussia Dortmund won the 1997 UEFA Champions League,
while Dooley's Schalke 04 captured the UEFA Cup in the same year.
