2012 UEFA Europa League Final

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,[4][5] 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.[6][7] 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.

2012 UEFA Europa League Final
Match programme cover
Event2011–12 UEFA Europa League
Atlético Madrid Athletic Bilbao
3 0
Date9 May 2012
VenueArena Națională, Bucharest
Man of the MatchRadamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid)[1]
RefereeWolfgang Stark (Germany)[2]
Attendance52,347[3]
WeatherCloudy
15 °C (59 °F)
100% humidity

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
Further information: Arena Națională

The Arena Națională was announced by UEFA as the venue of the 2012 final on 30 January 2010.[8] 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).[9] 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.[10]

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
Further information: 2011–12 UEFA Europa League
Atlético Madrid Round Athletic Bilbao
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Qualifying phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Strømsgodset 4–1 2–1 (H) 2–0 (A) Third qualifying round Bye
Vitória Guimarães 6–0 2–0 (H) 4–0 (A) Play-off round Trabzonspor n/a† 0–0 Cancelled†
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Celtic 2–0 (H) Matchday 1 Slovan Bratislava 2–1 (A)
Rennes 1–1 (A) Matchday 2 Paris Saint-Germain 2–0 (H)
Udinese 0–2 (A) Matchday 3 Red Bull Salzburg 2–2 (H)
Udinese 4–0 (H) Matchday 4 Red Bull Salzburg 1–0 (A)
Celtic 1–0 (A) Matchday 5 Slovan Bratislava 2–1 (H)
Rennes 3–1 (H) Matchday 6 Paris Saint-Germain 2–4 (A)
Group I winners
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Atlético Madrid 6 4 1 1 11 4 +7 13 Advance to knockout phase
2 Udinese 6 2 3 1 6 7 −1 9
3 Celtic 6 1 3 2 6 7 −1 6
4 Rennes 6 0 3 3 5 10 −5 3
Source:
Final standings Group F winners
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Athletic Bilbao 6 4 1 1 11 8 +3 13 Advance to knockout phase
2 Red Bull Salzburg 6 3 1 2 11 8 +3 10
3 Paris Saint-Germain 6 3 1 2 8 7 +1 10
4 Slovan Bratislava 6 0 1 5 4 11 −7 1
Source:
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Lazio 4–1 3–1 (A) 1–0 (H) Round of 32 Lokomotiv Moscow 2–2 (a) 1–2 (A) 1–0 (H)
Beşiktaş 6–1 3–1 (H) 3–0 (A) Round of 16 Manchester United 5–3 3–2 (A) 2–1 (H)
Hannover 96 4–2 2–1 (H) 2–1 (A) Quarter-finals Schalke 04 6–4 4–2 (A) 2–2 (H)
Valencia 5–2 4–2 (H) 1–0 (A) Semi-finals 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.[12]

Ambassador

Former Romanian player Miodrag Belodedici was named as the ambassador for the final.[13]

Match

Details
Atlético Madrid 3–0 Athletic Bilbao
Falcao  7', 34'
Diego  85'		 Report
Attendance: 52,347[3]
Atlético Madrid
Athletic Bilbao
GK13 Thibaut Courtois
RB20 Juanfran
CB2 Diego Godín
CB23 Miranda
LB6 Filipe Luís
CM4 Mario Suárez
CM14 Gabi (c)
RW22 Diego 90'
AM7 Adrián 88'
LW11 Arda Turan 90+3'
CF9 Radamel Falcao 26'
Substitutes:
GK25 Sergio Asenjo
DF3 Antonio López
DF18 Álvaro Domínguez 90+3'
MF8 Eduardo Salvio 88'
MF12 Paulo Assunção
MF19 Koke 90'
FW41 Pedro Martín
Manager:
Diego Simeone
GK1 Gorka Iraizoz
RB15 Andoni Iraola (c)
CB24 Javi Martínez
CB5 Fernando Amorebieta 64'
LB3 Jon Aurtenetxe 46'
RM21 Ander Herrera 22' 63'
CM8 Ander Iturraspe 46'
LM10 Óscar de Marcos
RW14 Markel Susaeta 90+1'
LW19 Iker Muniain
CF9 Fernando Llorente
Substitutes:
GK13 Raúl
DF6 Mikel San José
MF11 Igor Gabilondo
MF17 Iñigo Pérez 75' 46'
MF23 Borja Ekiza
FW2 Gaizka Toquero 63'
FW28 Ibai Gómez 46'
Manager:
Marcelo Bielsa

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

Assistant referees:
Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany)
Mike Pickel (Germany)
Fourth official:
Stéphane Lannoy (France)
Additional assistant referees:
Florian Meyer (Germany)
Deniz Aytekin (Germany)

Match rules[14]

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