News Archive

Europa League, day 5

The two Spanish sides are through to the knock-out stage of the competition after both won their respective matches on Thursday night. Athletic Bilbao made sure of top spot in their group after coming from behind to beat Augsburg 2-3 in the first match of the day. Susaeta’s early opener was overturned by strikes from Trochowski and Bobadilla either side of the break, but substitutes Iturraspe and Williams combined to set up Aduríz to score twice in the last ten minutes. And later in the evening Villarreal beat Rapid Vienna 1-0 to move above the Austrians to the top of their mini-league. A win by Minsk against Viktoria Plsen in the other group match earlier in the afternoon meant that both teams were already sure of qualifying, but Bruno tied up the three points following a Denis Suárez corner with twelve minutes to go. (26.11.15)

Augsburg 2 - Athletic Bilbao 3

Athletic Bilbao made sure of top spot in their group after coming from behind to beat Augsburg 2-3 in their fifth group match on Thursday. Susaeta gave the Basque side an early lead after picking up a long throw-in by Balenziaga and firing a low shot past Hitz, but Gurpegi had to block a couple of efforts from Jancker, and with five minutes to go to the break ex-Sevilla midfielder Trochowski made it all square with a shot which deflected off Laporte and went in off the post. With just under an hour gone Bobadilla put the German side in front, heading the ball back into an empty net after Herrerín could only push out a shot from Ji Dong-Won, and Valverde turned to Raúl García, Williams and Iturraspe. With seven minutes left on the clock Williams laid the ball back for Iturraspe to cross in and find the head of Aduríz, and three minutes later the three combined again for Aduriz to get his second of the night from William’s cross. Athletic were through as group champions, and Augsburg have to compete for second spot with Partizan Belgrade in two weeks time. (26.11.15)

Villarreal 1 – Rapid Vienna 0

Later in the evening Villarreal beat Rapid Vienna 1-0 to move above the Austrians to the top of their mini-league. A win by Dinamo Minsk against Viktoria Plsen in the other group match earlier in the afternoon meant that both teams were already sure of qualifying. However Rapid came into the game with four wins out of four, and they held their own in the first half, the only chances for the locals efforts late on by Bakambu and Soldado which failed to find the target. After the interval Soldado fired a couple of shots wide and then turned a ball against the post after Novota pushed out a dangerous cross, and with twelve minutes to go Bruno finally found a way through, steering a shot past Strebinger (who had replaced the injured Novota) after a Denis Suárez corner came to him off Mario and Jonathan Dos Santos. That gave Villarreal the head-to-head advantage over their opponents, and a win in Plsen in a fortnight’s time will ensure them first place in their group. (26.11.15)