Reuters Soccer Blog

Europa League final — live

We’ll be providing updates direct from the Hamburg Arena, where Atletico Madrid look to land the first leg of a possible Cup double in the final of the Europa League against Fulham.

The English side have upset the odds all season, knocking out the likes of Juventus and Hamburg on their way to the final. Join us for all the details from a couple of hours before kick-off.

First Europa League final has a familiar feel

The first Europa League season, following its rebranding from UEFA Cup, draws to a close with a final line-up no-one would have expected here in Hamburg, but still, there is a familiar feel heading into this match.

Fulham’s roller coaster ride is reminiscent of the journey made by Spain’s Alaves, when they made it all the way to the final in 2000-01.

The final that year was in Dortmund, a three-hour drive down the A1 from Hamburg, and ultimately the underdogs came up short, losing in sudden-death extra-time to Liverpool.

You could make a case for Atletico Madrid being the rough equivalent of that Liverpool team nine years ago. Liverpool’s European glories looked a little faded back then: they had never so much as qualified for the Champions League at that stage and were being thoroughly overshadowed by Manchester United.

Atletico don’t quite have the same European pedigree but they have always regarded themselves as big stage players, having won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1962 and lost three other European finals.

These days they remain in the shadow of their richer neighbours, having won their last piece of silverware when they completed a league and cup double in 1996. This could be the first part of another double, with a Copa del Rey final to come, and they are determined to enjoy their return to the spotlight. As Liverpool discovered in the semi-finals, they are a streetwise team, with skillful players who have been around a long time and know a thing or two about killing off a game when they hold a lead.

As for Fulham,  who knows how they will deal with the pressure of their first major European final? They have upset expectations so often that they will feel anything is possible. When Alaves played Liverpool in that 2001 final the Spaniards looked like being overwhelmed but they recovered from a 2-0 deficit early in the game to give the English side a real fright.

Europa League semi-finals — live

The Champions League has brought little joy to English clubs this season but the Europa League has been a different story, with Liverpool and Fulham both in with a chance of making the final.

Join us for live chat and on-the-spot details from our reporters as Liverpool take on Atletico Madrid and Fulham face Hamburg in the semi-final second legs.

Eastern Europe’s UEFA Cup love affair still burning

What have the UEFA Cup and the Eurovision song contest got in common?

A) Some people don’t take them as seriously as they could.

B) They give lesser known participants the chance to appear on prime-time TV.

C) East European countries have started to dominate them

And the answer, I’m starting to think, is C … because of A and B.

This year will be the third year in the past six that an ex-Soviet team plays in the UEFA Cup final after victories by Russian sides Zenit St Petersburg last year and CSKA Moscow in 2005.