Europa League: Valencia lead the Spanish domination of last four

Three Spanish clubs stormed into the semi-finals of the Europa League last night, giving an ample demonstration of the strength in depth in La Liga.

Valencia led the way, overcoming a 2-1 first-leg deficit by thrashing AZ Alkmaar 4-0 at the Mestalla, France defender Adil Rami scoring twice in quick succession in the first-half as they took early charge.

In the semi-finals Valencia will face Atletico Madrid who won 2-1 at Hannover to go through 4-2 on aggregate, Radamel Falcao getting their winner on the night with three minutes to go.

Athletic Bilbao, who knocked out Manchester United in the previous round, twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at home with Schalke to win through 6-4 overall.

The only non-Spanish side in the semi-finals is Sporting Lisbon, conquerors of Manchester City, who drew 1-1 at Metalist Kharkiv to edge out the Ukrainian side 3-2.