MADRID, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Valencia, Villarreal and Athletic Club Bilbao will try to assure that Spain has three representatives in the group stage of the Europa League when they play the second leg matches of the final qualifying round on Thursday.
Valencia and Villarreal are both virtually assured of reaching the group stage after away wins in their first leg encounters.
Valencia won 3-0 away to Norwegian side Stabaek and with the home match still to be played, qualification looks to be a mere formality.
Likewise Villarreal are expected to have few problems after a 3-1 triumph in the home ground of Dutch outfit NAC Breda.
Athletic Club, however, has a far more difficult task ahead of it. The side coached by Joaquin Caparros crosses the Artic Circle to face Norwegian team Tromsoe.
Athletic defends a narrow first leg advantage after two goals in the last five minutes allowed them to turn a 2-1 defeat into a 3-2 win in the San Mames stadium.
Caparros rested key players for Sunday's Spanish Super cup defeat against FC Barcelona, so Athletic will be at full strength and with the confidence of knowing that it has already won away from home in the competition.
In the first qualifying round, Athletic lost 1-0 at home to Swiss side Young Boys, but recovered to win the return leg 2-1.
没有评论:
发表评论