Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao preview

Real Madrid managed to beat Levante by 2-1 on a water-logged pitch last weekend. Jose Mourinho's men are currently eight points behind Barcelona and they are also trailing their city rivals, Atletico Madrid by five points.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil will return to the starting line up for the reigning Spanish champions. Ronaldo was elbowed last wekend while Ozil picked up a knock. These two players will be joined by Sami Khedira and Karim Benzema, but Gonzalo Higuain and Marcelo won't be part of the action at the Bernebeu.

The visitors
Oscar de Marcos and Ander Herrera will play no part in this game due to suspension.

Athletic Bilbao have not had a good season and they are not expected to leave the Spanish capital with any point.

Even though Madrid will play against Manchester City in some few days from now, Mourinho will name a strong squad for this fixture.

Our prediction:
Real Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao

Europa League final preview

Athletic Bilbao will take on Aletico Madrid in an all-Spanish final that will be played later tonight in Bucharest, Romania.Fernando Llorente has scored very important goals against Manchester United, Schalke 04 and Sporting Lisbon en route today's epic final. On the other hand Radamel Falcao has scored 10 goals that has ensured that Atletico Madrid are about to win their second Europa League title in 3 years. Luis Perea has been passed fit to play today's game after a short spell in the treatment room. Diego Simone is expected to stick to his favorite 4-2-3-1 formation for the Madrid club with Falcao playing the role of a lone striker. Adrian and Turan will play on the wings while Diego will play behind the Colombian striker.
Marcelo Bielsa is expected to deploy a 4-3-3 formation for Bilbao. The trio of Susaeta, Llorente and Munain will face the Madrid defence in what promises to be an explosive match in Bucharest. Oscar De Marcos, Iturraspe and Herrera will hold the midfield for Bielsa's men. This will be the first meeting between these two teams in any European competition.

Our prediction: Atletico Madrid 3-2 Athletic Bilbao

Europa League Round-Up.

*Man United lost at home to Bilbao.
*Valencia defeated PSV while Udinese lost away from home.
*Vincent Kompany got injured in his team's 1-0 defeat

Manchester United lost their second consecutive Europa League match at home. After suffering a 2-1 loss at Old Trafford in the hands of Ajax Amsterdam three weeks ago, Sir Alex Ferguson's team were beaten at home on Thursday night by Athletic Bilbao. Wayne Rooney gave the Premiership team the lead before a superb header by Fernando Llorente made it 1-1 at half time. Rooney's goal came after 22 minutes of play. Gorka Iraizoz parried a shot from Javier Hernandez before Rooney fired the rebound into an empty net. De Marcos increased the tally to 2-1 in the 72nd minute before Munain made it 3-1 on stroke of 90 minutes. Muniain was the star attraction of the night as he pummeled the United defense through out the second half. De Marcos handled the ball inside the penalty box with seconds left to play and Rooney converted the penalty to give his side a glimmer of hope as the travel to Spain next Thursday for the return leg.

In order games, Manchester City lost 1-0 away to Sporting Lisbon in a match that where Belgian defender, Vincent Kompany sustained an injury. Roberto Soldado scored a brace while Pablo Viati and Victor Ruiz scored a goal each for Valencia as they survived a late resurgence from PSV Eindhoven that scored two goals within the last seven minutes of the match through Ola Toivonen's 83rd minute penalty and a 90th minute strike from Georginio Wijnaldum. In Ukraine, Metalist Kharkiv lost at home by a lone goal to Olympiakos of Greece while FC Twente followed up their 6-2 win over PSV in the Dutch Eredivisie with another 1-0 win over Schalke 04 of Germany that has Raul Gonzalez on their payroll. Atletico Madrid recorded a 3-1 home win over Besiktas of Turkey. Toto Salvio got a brace and Adrian also scored a goal for the Spanish Primera League side. Portuguese International, Simao scored an away goal for Besiktas. The Tukish side must win 2-0 next Thursday if they intend to progress to the last eight.
In Belgium, Standard Liege were held to a two all draw at home by Hannover 96. Maarten Martens and Erik Falkenburg gave AZ Alkmaar a 2-0 home win over Udinese of Italy at the AFAS Stadion. US International,Jozy Altidore provided a cross for Martens to head the ball into the net after 63 minutes. Altidore also provided the assist for the second goal. He played a one-two and delivered a magnificent cross for Falkenburg to finish up the good work