SEVILLA REMAIN ON course to become the first side since Bayern Munich forty years ago to win three successive editions of a Uefa tournament.
They got the better of fellow Spaniards Athletic Club tonight but only after a very tetchy penalty shootout.
Sevilla led 2-1 from the first leg but the tie was levelled when Aritz Aduriz put Athletic in front on 57 minutes. But, almost immediately, the home side responded through Kevin Gameiro.
However, Athletic dug deep and, with ten minutes left, they grabbed a crucial goal from Raul Garcia.
That made it 3-3 on aggregate and extra-time followed with Sevilla denied an equaliser by the upright.
The shootout was inevitable as the second period wore on and it proved pretty dramatic.
When Yevhen Konoplyanka conjured a last-second dummy to fool Iago Herrerin, the keeper was far from impressed and gave the Ukrainian plenty of verbals.
Immediately afterwards, Etxebarria’s weak effort was easily saved by Sevilla’s Soria and it led to Gameiro having the chance to win it for his side.
As he waited to begin his walk to the spot though, Athletic’s Oscar de Marcos approached and attempted to put him off with some, ahem, words of encouragement. It led to the match officials having to separate both groups of players as they both got involved in some heated discussions.
Still, Gameiro shook it off, marched to the penalty area, put the ball down and sent a screamer to the top corner to book Sevilla’s place in the semi-finals.
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