2012 UEFA Europa League Final
Match programme cover
Event2011–12 UEFA Europa League
Atlético Madrid Athletic Bilbao
Spain Spain
3 0
Date9 May 2012
VenueArena Națională, Bucharest
Man of the MatchRadamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid)[1]
RefereeWolfgang Stark (Germany)[2]
Attendance52,347[3]
WeatherCloudy night
11 °C (52 °F)
83% humidity[4]

The 2012 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, the 41st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA (after the UEFA Champions League), and the 3rd season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The match was played on 9 May 2012 at the Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania,[5][6] and was contested between two Spanish sides – Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. The match ended with Atlético Madrid winning 3–0, with Radamel Falcao scoring two goals and Diego scoring another.[7][8] In doing so, Falcao was named man of the match, and became the first player to win back-to-back Europa League titles with different teams.

The winners earned the right to play against Chelsea, the winners of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup.

Venue

Match ball

The Arena Națională was announced by UEFA as the venue of the 2012 final on 30 January 2010.[9] This was the first final of a European football club competition hosted by Romania.

The stadium was built on the site of the former national stadium, and opened on 6 September 2011 with a UEFA Euro 2012 Group D qualifier match between Romania and France.

Background

The final was preceded by an opening ceremony.

This was the second consecutive Europa League final contested by two teams from the same nation, and the ninth time overall (including UEFA Cup).[10] The only other all-Spanish final of UEFA's second club competition was the 2007 UEFA Cup Final, when Sevilla defeated Espanyol. That was also the last final before the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final, where both finalist teams had played only in the UEFA Cup/Europa League in their routes to the final (rather than dropping down from the UEFA Champions League, either after the early knockout rounds or after the group stage).

Both teams have played in one previous Europa League/UEFA Cup final. Atlético Madrid won the first Europa League final after its renaming in 2010, beating Fulham 2–1 after extra time. Athletic Bilbao lost in 1977 to Juventus on away goals after the tie finished 2–2 on aggregate. The two teams have never met in European competition before. They have met each other in three Copa del Rey finals, with Athletic Bilbao winning two and Atlético Madrid winning one. In the 2011–12 La Liga season, Athletic Bilbao won their home fixture 3–0 and Atlético Madrid won their home fixture 2–1.[11]

After losing to Udinese on 20 October 2011, Atlético Madrid went on a run of 11 straight victories to the final, a record in European football, winning their remaining group games to top their group and then defeating four knockout opponents both home and away.

Road to final

Spain Atlético Madrid Round Spain Athletic Bilbao
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Qualifying phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Norway Strømsgodset 4–1 2–1 (H) 2–0 (A) Third qualifying round Bye
Portugal Vitória Guimarães 6–0 2–0 (H) 4–0 (A) Play-off round Turkey Trabzonspor n/a† 0–0 Cancelled†
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Scotland Celtic 2–0 (H) Matchday 1 Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 2–1 (A)
France Rennes 1–1 (A) Matchday 2 France Paris Saint-Germain 2–0 (H)
Italy Udinese 0–2 (A) Matchday 3 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 2–2 (H)
Italy Udinese 4–0 (H) Matchday 4 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 1–0 (A)
Scotland Celtic 1–0 (A) Matchday 5 Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 2–1 (H)
France Rennes 3–1 (H) Matchday 6 France Paris Saint-Germain 2–4 (A)
Group I winners

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Spain Atlético Madrid 6 4 1 1 11 4 +7 13 Advance to knockout phase
2 Italy Udinese 6 2 3 1 6 7 −1 9
3 Scotland Celtic 6 1 3 2 6 7 −1 6
4 France Rennes 6 0 3 3 5 10 −5 3
Source: Soccerway
 Final standings Group F winners

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Spain Athletic Bilbao 6 4 1 1 11 8 +3 13 Advance to knockout phase
2 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 6 3 1 2 11 8 +3 10
3 France Paris Saint-Germain 6 3 1 2 8 7 +1 10
4 Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 6 0 1 5 4 11 −7 1
Source: Soccerway
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Italy Lazio 4–1 3–1 (A) 1–0 (H) Round of 32 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 2–2 (a) 1–2 (A) 1–0 (H)
Turkey Beşiktaş 6–1 3–1 (H) 3–0 (A) Round of 16 England Manchester United 5–3 3–2 (A) 2–1 (H)
Germany Hannover 96 4–2 2–1 (H) 2–1 (A) Quarter-finals Germany Schalke 04 6–4 4–2 (A) 2–2 (H)
Spain Valencia 5–2 4–2 (H) 1–0 (A) Semi-finals Portugal Sporting CP 4–3 1–2 (A) 3–1 (H)

Pre-match

Ticketing

Athletic Bilbao fans in Bucharest before the match

The two finalist teams received 9,000 tickets each for distribution to their supporters. 20,000 tickets have been sold to local football fans with a further 3,000 tickets available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com, with prices between 100 RON and 500 RON. The remaining tickets are allocated to the local organising committee, UEFA's 53 national football associations, and commercial and broadcast partners.[13]

Officials

In May 2012, German referee Wolfgang Stark was appointed for the final. Joining him were fellow German officials Mike Pickel and Jan-Hendrik Salver as assistant referees, Deniz Aytekin and Florian Meyer as additional assistant referees, Mark Borsch as reserve assistant referee, and French official Stéphane Lannoy as fourth official.[2]

Ambassador

Former Romanian player Miodrag Belodedici was named as the ambassador for the final.[14]

Match

Details

Atlético Madrid Spain3–0Spain Athletic Bilbao
Falcao 7', 34'
Diego 85'		 Report
Attendance: 52,347[3]
Atlético Madrid[4]
Athletic Bilbao[4]
GK13Belgium Thibaut Courtois
RB20Spain Juanfran
CB2Uruguay Diego Godín
CB23Brazil Miranda
LB6Brazil Filipe Luís
CM4Spain Mario Suárez
CM14Spain Gabi (c)
RW22Brazil Diegodownward-facing red arrow 90'
AM7Spain Adriándownward-facing red arrow 88'
LW11Turkey Arda Turandownward-facing red arrow 90+3'
CF9Colombia Radamel FalcaoYellow card 26'
Substitutes:
GK25Spain Sergio Asenjo
DF3Spain Antonio López
DF18Spain Álvaro Domínguezupward-facing green arrow 90+3'
MF8Argentina Eduardo Salvioupward-facing green arrow 88'
MF12Brazil Paulo Assunção
MF19Spain Kokeupward-facing green arrow 90'
FW41Spain Pedro Martín
Manager:
Argentina Diego Simeone
GK1Spain Gorka Iraizoz
RB15Spain Andoni Iraola (c)
CB24Spain Javi Martínez
CB5Venezuela Fernando AmorebietaYellow card 64'
LB3Spain Jon Aurtenetxedownward-facing red arrow 46'
RM21Spain Ander HerreraYellow card 22'downward-facing red arrow 63'
CM8Spain Ander Iturraspedownward-facing red arrow 46'
LM10Spain Óscar de Marcos
RW14Spain Markel SusaetaYellow card 90+1'
LW19Spain Iker Muniain
CF9Spain Fernando Llorente
Substitutes:
GK13Spain Raúl
DF6Spain Mikel San José
MF11Spain Igor Gabilondo
MF17Spain Iñigo PérezYellow card 75'upward-facing green arrow 46'
MF23Spain Borja Ekiza
FW2Spain Gaizka Toqueroupward-facing green arrow 63'
FW28Spain Ibai Gómezupward-facing green arrow 46'
Manager:
Argentina Marcelo Bielsa

Man of the Match:
Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid)[1]

Assistant referees:[2]
Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany)
Mike Pickel (Germany)
Fourth official:[2]
Stéphane Lannoy (France)
Additional assistant referees:[2]
Florian Meyer (Germany)
Deniz Aytekin (Germany)
Reserve assistant referee:[2]
Mark Borsch (Germany)

Match rules[15]

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Seven named substitutes
  • Maximum of three substitutions

Statistics

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Atkin, John (9 May 2012). "Falcao at double as Atlético march to title". UEFA. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Stark gets Bucharest call-up". UEFA. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Full Time Summary Final – Atlético Madrid v Athletic Bilbao" (PDF). UEFA. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 "Tactical Lineups – Final – Wednesday 9 May 2012" (PDF). UEFA. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "2011/12 draw and match calendar". UEFA. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "UEFA Europa League trophy handed to Bucharest". UEFA. 11 April 2012. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Atl Madrid 3–0 Athletic Bilbao". BBC Sport. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  8. ↑ Jonathan Wilson (9 May 2012). "Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  9. ↑ "UEFA unveil 2011 and 2012 final venues". UEFA. 30 January 2009. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  10. ↑ "Final shining spotlight on local rivalries". UEFA. 7 May 2012.
  11. ↑ "Bucharest stage set for all-Spanish showpiece". UEFA. 27 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "Fenerbahçe replaced in UEFA Champions League". UEFA. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "UEFA Europa League Final 2012 ticket sales launched". UEFA. 7 March 2012.
  14. ↑ "Ambassador: Miodrag Belodedici". UEFA. 1 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2011/12" (PDF). Nyon: UEFA. March 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  16. 1 2 3 "Team statistics" (PDF). UEFA. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
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