Football: Villarreal shine in Europa League

PARIS: Spanish side Villarreal and Portuguese giants FC Porto put their Europa League-winning credentials on show with 5-1 wins apiece in the first leg of the quarter-finals. Three Portuguese sides – Porto, Benfica and Sporting Braga – are among the last-eight of Europe’s second tier club competition for the first time, boosting the chances of an all-Portuguese final at the Dublin Arena on May 18. While 2004 Champions League winners Porto impressed with a 5-1 crushing of Spartak Moscow, Madrid-based Villarreal were just as impressive on their way to the exact same scoreline against hapless Dutch side FC Twente.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2011.