# 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, 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. 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.
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

The Arena Națională was announced by UEFA as the venue of the 2012 final on 30 January 2010. 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

This was the second consecutive Europa League final contested by two teams from the same nation, and the ninth time overall (including UEFA Cup). 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.
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.

## Route to the final

| Atlético Madrid | Atlético Madrid | Atlético Madrid | Atlético Madrid | Round | Athletic Bilbao | Athletic Bilbao | Athletic Bilbao | 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| Vitória de Guimarães | 6–0 | 2–0 (H) | 4–0 (A) | Play-off round | Trabzonspor | w/o | 0–0 | Canc. |
| Opponent | Result | Result | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | Result | Result |
| Celtic | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) | Matchday 1 | Slovan Bratislava | 2–1 (A) | 2–1 (A) | 2–1 (A) |
| Rennes | 1–1 (A) | 1–1 (A) | 1–1 (A) | Matchday 2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) |
| Udinese | 0–2 (A) | 0–2 (A) | 0–2 (A) | Matchday 3 | Red Bull Salzburg | 2–2 (H) | 2–2 (H) | 2–2 (H) |
| Udinese | 4–0 (H) | 4–0 (H) | 4–0 (H) | Matchday 4 | Red Bull Salzburg | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) |
| Celtic | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | Matchday 5 | Slovan Bratislava | 2–1 (H) | 2–1 (H) | 2–1 (H) |
| Rennes | 3–1 (H) | 3–1 (H) | 3–1 (H) | Matchday 6 | Paris Saint-Germain | 2–4 (A) | 2–4 (A) | 2–4 (A) |
| Group I winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Atlético Madrid 6 13 2 Udinese 6 9 3 Celtic 6 6 4 Rennes 6 3 Source: Soccerway | Group I winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Atlético Madrid 6 13 2 Udinese 6 9 3 Celtic 6 6 4 Rennes 6 3 Source: Soccerway | Group I winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Atlético Madrid 6 13 2 Udinese 6 9 3 Celtic 6 6 4 Rennes 6 3 Source: Soccerway | Group I winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Atlético Madrid 6 13 2 Udinese 6 9 3 Celtic 6 6 4 Rennes 6 3 Source: Soccerway | Final standings | Group F winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Athletic Bilbao 6 13 2 Red Bull Salzburg 6 10 3 Paris Saint-Germain 6 10 4 Slovan Bratislava 6 1 Source: Soccerway | Group F winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Athletic Bilbao 6 13 2 Red Bull Salzburg 6 10 3 Paris Saint-Germain 6 10 4 Slovan Bratislava 6 1 Source: Soccerway | Group F winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Athletic Bilbao 6 13 2 Red Bull Salzburg 6 10 3 Paris Saint-Germain 6 10 4 Slovan Bratislava 6 1 Source: Soccerway | Group F winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Athletic Bilbao 6 13 2 Red Bull Salzburg 6 10 3 Paris Saint-Germain 6 10 4 Slovan Bratislava 6 1 Source: Soccerway |
| 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) |
Notes
* ↑ As a result of match-fixing allegations, Turkish club Fenerbahçe were removed from the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League and were replaced with Trabzonspor on 24 August 2011. As a result, Trabzonspor's second leg against Athletic Bilbao was cancelled, and Athletic Bilbao advanced to the group stage.

## Pre-match
### Ticketing

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.

### Officials

In May 2012, German referee Wolfgang Stark was appointed for the final. Joining him were fellow German officials Mike Pickel and Jan-Hendrik Salver as assistant referees, Deniz Aytekin and Florian Meyer as additional assistant referees, Mark Borsch as reserve assistant referee, and French official Stéphane Lannoy as fourth official.

### Ambassador

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

## Match
### Details

| Atlético Madrid | Athletic Bilbao |
| GK | 13 | Thibaut Courtois |
| RB | 20 | Juanfran |
| CB | 2 | Diego Godín |
| CB | 23 | Miranda |
| LB | 6 | Filipe Luís |
| CM | 4 | Mario Suárez |
| CM | 14 | Gabi (c) |
| RW | 22 | Diego | | 90' |
| AM | 7 | Adrián | | 88' |
| LW | 11 | Arda Turan | | 90+3' |
| CF | 9 | Radamel Falcao | 26' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 25 | Sergio Asenjo |
| DF | 3 | Antonio López |
| DF | 18 | Álvaro Domínguez | | 90+3' |
| MF | 8 | Eduardo Salvio | | 88' |
| MF | 12 | Paulo Assunção |
| MF | 19 | Koke | | 90' |
| FW | 41 | Pedro Martín |
| Manager: ||
| Diego Simeone ||
| GK | 1 | Gorka Iraizoz |
| RB | 15 | Andoni Iraola (c) |
| CB | 24 | Javi Martínez |
| CB | 5 | Fernando Amorebieta | 64' |
| LB | 3 | Jon Aurtenetxe | | 46' |
| RM | 21 | Ander Herrera | 22' | 63' |
| CM | 8 | Ander Iturraspe | | 46' |
| LM | 10 | Óscar de Marcos |
| RW | 14 | Markel Susaeta | 90+1' |
| LW | 19 | Iker Muniain |
| CF | 9 | Fernando Llorente |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 13 | Raúl |
| DF | 6 | Mikel San José |
| MF | 11 | Igor Gabilondo |
| MF | 17 | Iñigo Pérez | 75' | 46' |
| MF | 23 | Borja Ekiza |
| FW | 2 | Gaizka Toquero | | 63' |
| FW | 28 | Ibai Gómez | | 46' |
| Manager: ||
| Marcelo Bielsa ||
| Man of the Match: Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid) Assistant referees: Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany) Mike Pickel (Germany) Fourth official: Stéphane Lannoy (France) Additional assistant referees: Florian Meyer (Germany) Deniz Aytekin (Germany) Reserve assistant referee: Mark Borsch (Germany) | Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Seven named substitutes Maximum of three substitutions |

### Statistics

First half :
| Statistic | Atlético Madrid | Athletic Bilbao |
| Goals scored | 2 | 0 |
| Total shots | 6 | 5 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 1 |
| Saves | 1 | 0 |
| Ball possession | 40% | 60% |
| Corner kicks | 3 | 2 |
| Fouls committed | 17 | 8 |
| Offsides | 0 | 2 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 1 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Second half :
| Statistic | Atlético Madrid | Athletic Bilbao |
| Goals scored | 1 | 0 |
| Total shots | 9 | 11 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 2 |
| Saves | 2 | 3 |
| Ball possession | 42% | 58% |
| Corner kicks | 0 | 6 |
| Fouls committed | 8 | 6 |
| Offsides | 2 | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 3 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Overall :
| Statistic | Atlético Madrid | Athletic Bilbao |
| Goals scored | 3 | 0 |
| Total shots | 15 | 16 |
| Shots on target | 6 | 3 |
| Saves | 3 | 3 |
| Ball possession | 41% | 59% |
| Corner kicks | 3 | 8 |
| Fouls committed | 25 | 14 |
| Offsides | 2 | 3 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 4 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |