PORTO LIFT EUROPA LEAGUE

 

(Image taken from UEFA)

The Europa League. Not always a competition that's easy to take seriously particularly if you're a fan of a team playing in the Champions League, in some ways it's a cheap version of the latter tournament. However it does usually provide some decent football in it's own right. This time around, the last British sides in the competition were knocked out in the second knockout round, all three of them! Still, the final of the competition is always worth a look as it sometimes gives you an idea of who the new forces in European football might be. Watching the latter stages as a neutral has proven to be an interesting experience involving names I am barely familiar with but I haven't been able to complain too much about the quality of the action.

For Porto, this was the first time they'd made the final of the Europa League as we currently know it but they did make in to the old UEFA Cup final back in '03 and I watched in my Halls of Residence flat as a rather dirty Jose Mourinho gaffered side beat Celtic 3-2 after extra time at the Estadio Olimpico(and went on to win the Champions League the following year!). As for Braga, well they've become a familiar enough name to European football fans over the last few seasons but have never come anywhere near a European final previously! They started up back in 1921 and are nicknamed the "Arsenalistas" of all things after the Gunners' kit took their fancy way back when.

Fastforward to 2011 and Porto, despite being gaffered by 33 year old Jose protege(and one time Chelsea scout apparantly)Andres Villas-Boas have dominated Portuguese football this season, having claimed the Superliga title with five games to spare. Braga though are very well known to them as stubborn gits who may have fallen away from the Superliga front runners but they have a few familiar names of their own and have beaten multiple Premiership sides on their way here. It may be a showpiece for one of the less well recognised leagues in Europe but on those grounds alone it was certainly a curiosity at the Aviva Stadium. So, time for these two contrasting sides to put on a show.

Well if anyone was expecting Braga to get outclassed straight away they were in for a surprise and really a dissapointment. The Superliga champions were possibly taking their local rivals for granted on this occasion and the first halfway serious opportunity came to Braga. As the game went on Porto had their opportunities though but still, the proved to be nothing that the Braga defence couldn't handle and extra time already seemed to be a strong possibility. Then in the 44th minute Fredy Guarin crossed to Radamel Falcao and the Columbian assasin headed it into the net. Could this have been the start of something spectacular?

Well, not really. Braga made the obvious move, freshened things up and one of their subs Mossoro had the best opportunity imaginable for an equaliser. Braga certainly looked a lot livlier in the early stages of the second half but ultimately ran out of fuel before long and resorted to cheap tricks which deservedly backfired. As the game wound down the biggest unanswered question became, could Porto get a second? Ultimately the answer to that question was no. So, in the dying second the focus was once again on a desperate Braga...who failed to buy themselves extra time. Even I've seen Porto play better games than this but still, it was them that celebrated.

So, Porto have won the 2011 Europa League, their first European trophy since Jose got everyone's attention by taking the Dragons to Champions League glory in '04. Now it's Villas-Boas that's the name we have to remember and people are already wondering where he'll be off to next. Well apparantly he won't be off anywhere for the immediate future, having had an awesome first season as a manager(which could yet finish with a Portuguese double as well as the Europa League) he wants to see what his current crew can do in the Champions League. I don't expect Porto to do awesome stuff in Europe's top competition, their players are already familiar names at that level but particularly given that on this occasion they started the season in the Europa League preliminary rounds, what they've done this time around is very impressive!

Closer to home, the Championship playoff semi final 2nd leg matches were taking place. Swansea beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium, grabbing their first two goals before halftime before forcing their opponents to settle for a late consolation strike. Cardiff lost 3-0 to Reading at the Cardiff City Stadium with the Bluebirds paying the price for defensive blunders at either side of half time, forcing them back to the drawing board for next season. Overall, given how tight both 1st legs were, someone had to step it up in the second leg though given that Cardiff had a better regular season than Reading, it's a surprise that they've been booted so early but that's playoffs for you.

So, the Championship playoff final will be between Swansea(as close as they've been to the top flight since 1983) and Reading(as close as they've been to the Premiership since '08) at Wembley. Now in terms of regular season form, the Swans finished 3rd and Reading 5th. In terms of of previous Premiership experience, well it's Reading, now coached by Brian McDermott that have the edge. So, a tough clash to call. It would certainly be an interesting curiousity to have a Welsh side in the Premiership but I suspect that the Roals are going to have a bit more know-how this time around. Reading to be given another go in the Premiership.

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