Fernando Llorente netted a dramatic late winner for Athletic Bilbao to eliminate Sporting Lisbon and Atletico Madrid comfortably held on to a first-leg lead to oust La Liga rivals Valencia and set up an all-Spanish Europa League final.
A 3-1 success for Bilbao and the presence of its compatriots and 2010 winners Atletico, who won 1-0 on the night, in the May 9 showpiece in Bucharest may help ease Spanish pain in Europe this season.
The country’s two heavyweight clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona, were dumped out of the Champions League this week.
