FULHAM FINALLY FAIL

 

This season for the first time Europe's secondary club competition is called the Europa League. It was previously called the UEFA Cup and the last Premiershipside to reach the final of the competition in that incarnation was Steve McLaren's Middlesborough side but they were given a nasty reality check when they were beaten 4-0 by Seville at the PSVstadion. The last time a Premiership side managed to win the competition was back in my A Level days when Gerrard Houllier's Liverpool team beat obscure La Liga side Alaves 5-4 after extra time at the Westfallonstadion with that insane match won by an own goal from an Alaves defender.

Well back in '06 I said that Boro's run would never be replicated. Well maybe Fulham didn't quite manage the feat in the exact same style as McLaren's men but like Boro they are gaffered by a possible future England manager in Roy Hodgeson and they certainly made mugs of some of the biggest names in the competition. However now they had a Europa League final at the Nordbank Arena to deal with. Like both Boro and the Scousers before them, their opponents came from La Liga in the form of Athletico Madrid who were the fancied team in this encounter. Not that that had meant anything in previous ties involving Fulham this season.

Well Athletico had the first real opportunity of the match but it went begging. A further chance came the La Liga side''s way but the Fulham goalie was able to deal with it. It was pretty clear which team looked like the better side in the early stages though. They finally made their advantage pay when Sergio Aguerro set up Diego Forlam in the 32nd minute and the Uruguayan assasin put his team ahead(why couldn't he produce that sort of form at Old Traford?). Finally Fulham got a decent attack of their own going though and in the 37th minute camped themselves in the Athletico box where Zoltan Gera set up Simon Davis to level the match.

It was Fulham that had the first real attack of the second half but their sense of heroism failed them for that moment, the Athletico defence dodging a bullet. However that was the only real highlight of the opening stages of the second period. It was Athletico's turn to press for a second late on in the match but their first real chance in the form of a freekick came to naught. Fulham had what in theory was the last attack of the match but the final whistle blew before anything could be done with it. Hodgeson could claim bragging rights over McLaren at least - his men had at least been able to force extra time. Now, what could they do with the extra half a hour?

Fulham had the first opportunity of extra time but it was nowhere near being anything for their opponents to worry about, Davies blasting his shot well wide. Overall though you could have focussed on making a cup of tea or coffee during that opening period and you wouldn't have missed much - or even have got yourself some ice cream. The only other real highlight of the period was an Athletico attack right at the end which proved to be more dangerous than the earlier Fulham one but still merely ended with the ball going into the side netting. Were both teams playing for penalties? If so, they still had to hold out for another 15 minutes.

Fulham made an effort early on in the second half of extra time to go on the attack but were soaked up by Atletico...but the resulting counter attack was sent skywards. The clock ticked on towards the impending shootout. Fulham made an effort to avert it but again the opposition got in the way. And then came the 116th minute Athletico counter where Agurro barely kept the ball in before crossing to Forlan and again the ex-United player scored against a Premiership side in this season's competition. Fulham's last opportunity came to nothing. Their dream run fading at the last, it was the La Liga side that was left to lift the trophy on this occasion.

So, congratulations to Athletico Madrid, winners of the 2010 Europa League. They never claimed the old UEFA Cup though they did manage to claim the even older Cup Winners Cup back in 1961/62. THe early stages of the season were not particularly smooth for Athletico but then they hired gaffer Quique Sanchez Flores and while they were never in contention for the La Liga title or even qualification for next season's Champions League, this trophy combined with their upcoming appearance in the Copa del Rey final means that their fans have little to complain about this time around and already have to be considered one of the teams to beat for next season.

Closer to home and the Championship playoff semi finals took place. Blackpool beat Nottingham Forest 6-4 on aggregate with the 1st leg at Bloomfield Road with the Tangeries managing to win both legs in a jawdropping display. Cardiff drew 3-3 with Leicester after extra time with the 1st leg at the Walkers Stadium before the Bluebirds managed to win on penalties to end what proved to be a seriously tense rumble victorious. That sets up a final between Cardiff and Blackpool at Wembley. Could there be a Welsh side in the English top flight for the first time since the 1980s? I suspect there may well be - they certainly have the team to do it.

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