Athletico Madrid defeated Valencia 1-0 to enter the Europa League final in their semi-final second-leg encounter on Thursday night.
In the first half, both sides were unable to find the back of the net and played out a goal less 45 minutes.
In the 60’, Valencia’s custodian was beaten by Adrián López when he netted a brilliant angled shot into the top corner.
In the 79’, Athletico’s Skipper, Tiago, was red-carded during a mass confrontation, after he reportedly tried to slap Valencia’s Soldado.
The hosts had appealed for a handball against Tiago when he went up for a header in the area with Ricardo Costa but the referee, after initially awarding the penalty to point to the spot,over turned his decision. Replays proved him correct, showing the ball had struck Costa’s hand rather than Tiago’s.
But Valencia failed to capitalise on the extra man and Athlético kept them out to set up a final meeting with another Spanish side, Athletic Bilbao.
