Two big surprises last night will give way to an unexpected final in the inaugural Europa League competition.
In London, an incredible 29 metre free kick from
Petric gave
Hamburg SV the lead in the 22nd minute. Fulham were down 2 goals and needed a miracle to come back. The fans urged them on and were not disappointed when
Simon Davies scored after an incredible display of ball control. Just six minutes later
Zoltan Gera hammered home the winning goal after Hamburg failed to clear the ball in the wake of a corner kick.
Rafa Benitez may have put the nail in his coffin after his Reds lost the Europa League semi-final at home in the last 2 minutes of play. Liverpool started the match with a 1 goal deficit but a 44th minute strike by newcomer
Alberto Aquilani put the Reds on level terms with Atletico Madrid. The match went into added extra time and Yossi Benayoun's 95th minute strike looked to have sealed the victory for an ecstatic Liverpool side. With only 2 minutes to go a serious mistake by the Reds defense cost them the Europa League campaign. Uruguayan striker
Diego Forlan was left wide open backside of the goal during an Atletico counterattack and easily slotted home the final goal. This was enough to put Atletico Madrid through on away goals and left the Kop virtually silent.
The final will be played in Hamburg's HSH Nordbank Arena later this month and will feature English side Fulham FC against Spanish challengers Atletico Madrid.
