Atlético Madrid v Fulham - as it happened

Atlético Madrid's players celebrate after beating Fulham in the Europa League final
Atlético Madrid's players celebrate after beating Fulham. Photograph: Ina Fassbender/Reuters

This is not Hollywood. Nor a dingy massage parlour. So a happy ending is not guaranteed. In fact, it's not even likely – this has Middlesbrough 2006 written all over it, with the plucky English underdogs finally put in their place by snarling Spanish thoroughbreds. Ah, but Fulham's chances have already been dismissed more often than Javier Mascherano this season, and Roy Hodgson is so wise that I'm pretty sure his kitbag includes nothing but gold, frankincense and myrrh, so who's to say the Cottagers won't come out on top again?

Kick-off is at 7:45. Jibber-jabber about the line-ups will follow any minute now, but we do know that Bobby Zamora starts for Fulham, which, perhaps, means Fulham fans in Hamburg will be going all Britney Spears on us and pleading for their hero to make them happy thus: "Hit me Bobby one more time" ... of course, that may not be the best choice of song, since it runs the risks of reminding Zamora, the ultimate-confidence player, of the days in the not too distant past when his shots used to literally hit them.

Ah, here are the complete line-ups. Fulham are almost at full-strength - the exception being that John Pantsil seems to be fit enough only for a place on the bench, meaning Baird, who had a shocker at Arsenal on Sunday, replaces him at right-back:
Atletico Madrid: De Gea, Ujfalusi, Perea, Dominguez,
Subs: Joel, Valera, Camacho, Jurado, Salvio,
Juanito, Cabrera.

Fulham:Schwarzer, Baird, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Duff,
Etuhu, Murphy, Davies, Gera, Zamora.

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)

Possession: Fulham tend to have a lot of it - in this season's Premier League, for instance, only Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United enjoyed higher average rates of possession in matches. Even better, they tend to use that possession well - a big factor in that is Danny Murphy, whose vision and precision are perhaps even more important in international competition than they are domestically. Which brings us on to a pertinent question: what in heck was Fabio Capello doing trying to prise Paul Scholes away from his family when Murphy is available and willing?

Another question: How will Brede Hangeland perform tonight? In the first leg against Wolfsburg the movement of Edin Dzeko made him seem quite the galoot - but he learned from that and in the return tie coped far better with the Bosnian. He'll need to come to terms with Forlan quicker than that, however.

Roy ahoy! "This is a massive final being beamed to millions of pople all around the world - we're a little bit aware of our responsibility," a somewhat nervous-looking Hodgson tells Five. "But we're determined to do well."

And now Five are showing messages of support from other managers, presumably recorded at the League Manager Association bash that was held on MOnday night, when Hodgson was named manager of the season.

"I can't tell you how much we want you to win this game," says a refreshed-looking Sir Alex Ferguson ."There can be only one ending. Go win it!"

"Make sure you win it!" booms Sam Allardyce, always eager to echo his hero.

"It would be the most incredible achievement if you could go and win it, you deserve so much credit,' trumpets Harry Redknapp, presumably before holding forth for 20 minutes about how much credit he himself deserves too.

"Good luck, Roy. We have to win!" orders Don Fabio.

7:37pm: "I'm watching from Frankfurt," yells Declan Kane, who obviously has extraordinarily powerful eye-sight. "Roy Hodgson has been interviewed just now in word-perfect German on TV. SAT.1 pundits are mainly excited with the Fulham mascot. They have put together a video highlight reel and are reviewing the mascot's moves in detail." What is Billy the Badger in German?

An American quibble: "Does Dempsey usually start on the bench when Fulham is full strength?" carps Chris Neneh. "I know that he has been used as an impact sub in this tournament but I thought he had been a starter previously. Seems like he's overlooked as a pretty good player, even by USA fans. I was looking at a message board today and the only thing people were talking about is the famous waste-of-space prodigy Freddy Adu being left off our preliminary World Cup roster. No mention of Dempsey playing in a European final. I mean we have three, maybe four players (Dempsey, Donovan, Howard...Altidore?) that have name recognition but Clint still gets overlooked by our own fans." That surprises me. Dempsey is clearly a class player. He would normally be in the starting line-up but, as you know, he lost his place when he got injured a few months ago and his replacement, Gera, has done so well that he can't get back in. But it's almost guaranteed that he will come on to good effect tonight. Incidentally, Dempsey also put paid to any chances Sol Campbell may have had of going to the World Cup when he made a fool of the 35-year-old on Sunday.

7:43pm: Out on the pitch the teams run through the pre-match handshakes amid a wonderful din. One end of the ground is entirely black and white. They're got tops on - that's how we know they're Fulham fans, rather than lost Newcastle ones.

1 min: Fulham, clad in blue, kick-off and knock it back to Konchesky, who lumps in long towards Zamora, who loses it.

2 mins: Ujfalusi launches one long for Aguero to chase. The Argentinian does so diligently, but Schwarzer canters off his line to collect it comfortably.

3 mins: Hangeland has the jitters! Bidding to make a simple interception, he swung at fresh air, triggering momentary panic in the Fulham defence. Hughes mopped up.

4 mins: So far it's like the early stages of a first date: both parties engaged in slightly awkward getting-to-know you protocol. "Pay no attention to that Nemeh man," urges Michael Bertin. "All knowledgeable American soccer fans know exactly who the Deuce is. Our only complaint is that Bob Bradley can't seem to make him play like he does for Hodgson." Speaking of Deuce brings us inevitably on to this.

6 mins: Simao waddles over to take an Atletico corner, the first of the game. Zamora nods away at the near post. "Chris Neneh's comment disturbs me as a US football fan," ouches Chris Zammarelli. "It means the English are right: Americans know nothing about soccer."

8 mins: Reyes directs a dangerous chip towards the penalty spot. Schwarzer, decisive, bounds off his line and punches well clear. "Is it just me, or does the Atletico Madrid manager look like Phil Brown?" asks Hans Jorgen Fivelstad. I don't think he does, Hans, and I'm in no position to authenticate your own resemblence to good ol' Golden Phil Brown.

10 mins: Duff feeds Murphy, who attempts to deposit a through-ball on the foot of Davies, who'd made a craft run. But Murphy over-hit it.

12 mins: Oooh! Murphy goofed again! As if to vindicate Capello, he gave the ball away in midfield and Atletico ripped forward quickfast. Forlan peeled wide at the edge of the box, Aguero spotted him and delivered a snappy ball, and the Uruguayan's shot fizzes past Schwarzer ... and skims the outside of the post!

14 mins: Ujfalusi performs a quick triubte to Platoon following a challenge by Etuhu. Freekick to Atletico in a threatening position. Reyes curls it over the wall and towards the top corner, but Schwarzer had read his intention and was in the right place to catch it. "It's my rather excited, white van-driving, Fulham-supporting dad's 62nd birthday today and he lives near Woy's Croydon," hurrahs Huw Alexander. "I feel the stars aligning for a famous victory. Slightly."

16 mins: Fulham knock the ball around a bit, before Knochesky dinks one into the box for Zamora. He flicks it on to Gera, who lets fly from outside the box. Way over the bar it goes. "I'm a shivering mess watching this match," confesses Stuart Lily. "I'm not sure if the shakes are more to do with my god-awful hangover or the fact that my team are in a European cup final for the first time. Initial inspection of my clothes from last night would suggest the former."

19 mins: Davies stings the keeper's hands with a well-controlled shot from 25 yards. "You do realise that if Murphy has a shocker it's all your fault after jinxing him with the 'why isn't he in the England squad' comment (which, incidentally, I agree with)," boohoos Phil Sawyer. "You can probably expect an inbox full of emails from vengeful Fulham fans if it all goes wrong tonight." Ah, but it hs been a characterisitc of this campaign that Fulham improve as matches progress, so there is hope yet for Murphy to show Fabio that I know more about football than him. What's more, I'd do his job for a mere £5m per year.

21 mins: Forlan picks the ball up 32.1 yards out, shapes to shoot, and then blazes the ball into the North Sea. "No one's talking about Freddy Adu," hollers Andrew Corcoran, in a belated response to Chris Nemeh's incendiary ignorance. "We haven't thought about him in years. Everyone IS whining about Charlie Davies, because he was the catalyst for our Confederations Cup run where we dropped Spain. He was terrific, and he provided the innovation we need and will sorely miss in midfield. That said, Dempsey is absolute class. He's an untouchable, so to speak."

23 mins: Smart defending by Hughes, who, by dint of not being a 7ft8in Norwegian, tends to get overlooked when people rave about Fulham centrebacks. Right there he anticiapted Forlan's through-ball and then leaned into Aguero as he shepherded the ball back to Schwarzer.

25 mins: Wriggly skills from Aguero, who zigzags towards the box and then clips the ball towards Forlan at the back post. Konchesky heads clear in extremis. But the pressure from Atletico is building ominously. "Some of us Americans know about football," claims John P. "For example, I'm hoping John Terry's foot is fine and Rio Ferdinand's back is all right, as I'd much prefer we face England with those two on the field than Dawson and King."

27 mins: Simao floats a freekick into the box. Dominguez outjumps Hangeland but his looping header from 10 yards poses no problem to Schwarzer.

29 mins: Duff punches his fist in frustration after the ref waves play on despite a clear foul on the Irishman. First the Birmingham Six, now this. "LOL, come on Paul you're going to get me fired if you keep posting people's responses to me!" blubs Chris Nemh. "I'm sitting here in my cubicle fighting off a fit of rage so at least allow me a response: I said I was looking at a message board. A message board. Not THE MESSAGE BOARD THAT SPEAKS FOR ALL AMERICANS. I don't personally overlook Clint, but many do. They just don't want to admit it. And how can that guy say that 'no one's talking about Adu' when I've seen it with my own eyes. Damn the Internet, it's gotten me into trouble again."

GOAL! Atletico 1-0 Fulham (Forlan 32') That was lucky. But inevitable. Atletico swept forward sharply before Aguero let fly from the edge of the box with a wonky volley ... that dropped into the path of Forlan, who expertly re-directed it into the net from 14 yards. Fulham are furious - they claim he was offside. Fulham are wrong.

34 mins: Aguero darts through the middle again but his low shot from 25 yards is too feeble to threaten Schwarzer. "Speaking of ignorance, someone tell Andrew Corcoran that Charlie Davies is a striker, not a midfielder," nitpicks Mark Goodman.

GOAL! Atletico 1-1 Fulham (Davies 37') Lovely goal! It started with a break down the left by Konchesky and a wonderful dummy by Zamora. The ball then ran away from the striker, preventing him from shooting himself, but he managed to poke it to Gera, who chipped it to the far side of the box - via a flick by Zamora - and Davies whipped a perfect low volley into the net!

39 mins: Atletico take a quick corner, teeing up Reyes just outside the area. But he booms it over the bar.

40 mins: Simao hoiks a freekick into the box. Baird nuts clear. Atletico quickly regain it and work their ways forward anew. "I'm watching the game in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where we're all trying to get the taste of vomit out of our collective mouth after Dunga's call up yesterday," spews Paulo Padilha. "The commentator on ESPN here, when he's not gargling listerine, keeps going on about how Fulham aren't a passing team and that long balls are the only thing that works for them. Normally the ESPN team is better informed down here, but Fulham aren't really contradicting him today ..." In fairness, they haven't had much of the ball to get passing.

42 mins: Reyes curls a corner in. Schwarzer punches it out. "Fun match, both sides going for it, but lots to remind that these are two mid-table teams," snoots Gene Salorio.

43 mins: After a Ujfalusi shot is deflected behind for a corner, Atletico take that quickly and Forlan lets fly from the edge of the box, forcing a fine one-handed stop from Schwarzer, who has been by far the more busy of the two keepers. And now Simao has just tried to beat him 35 yards. He really should know better.

Half-time: Fulham have done well to reach the break on level terms. They've been given the run-around for much of this half. But remeber, they've tended to get strongert in the second periods all throughout the campaign. "Um … there is a 15-story super-billboard of Dempsey in mid-town Manhattan," haws Shannon Freshour, bringing an end, hopefully, to this debate about how well known Dempsey is or isn't in his homeland. Now let's talk about something else, eh? "I disagree with Hans Jorgen Fivelstad," announces Matt Kaupe. "I think the Atletico manager looks more like Dr House."

And another lookalike for you to ponder during the break: "Diego Forlan looks a lot like David Bentley, doesn't he?" Asks Tom Seavers, whom I like to think is related to Colt.

"Anyone else notice that the referee fondles his hair every two minutes?" demands Rú Hickson. "In his defence, it does look soft and smooth."

As sob stories go, I've heard sadder than this one from David Cumming: "All my mates are at the game and I'm stuck in Cannes working on a
trade rag for the film festival! To make it worse, I can't head off and find a pub until we find a pic where Russell Crowe is smiling. I'm going to miss the entire match..." Stuck in Cannes. How miserable.

46 mins: Atletico restart the game. "What's all this patronizing bollocks about 'plucky little Fulham'?" bawls Bem Bamford. "They are a team of highly paid international footballers who play in the Best-League-in-the-World™ . Now if you had team of Afghan schoolgirls, defying a fatwah, walking barefoot across the Himalayas to take on Barcelona in the Champion League final – that would be plucky." No, that would be supernatural.

47 mins: Davies sweeps the ball wide to Duff on the left. He finds Zamoram who is dispossessed by Perea. His role in the goal aside, Zamora has not looked fit tonight. "Did I read an article by you last week in top Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo?" quizzes James Hamilton. Well, I wrote one but I really don't know whether you read it. Sorry about that, I'll try to improve my global surveillance system.

49 mins: Murphy drifts an exquisite pass to Gera (are you watching, Fabio?), who controls it well and lays it back to Duff. The Irishman's dangerous cross is cleared by Perea.

51 mins: Gera sprung the offside trap and pursued Murphy's through-ball. His first touch was heavy, and de Gea was able to hurtle off his line and pounce on the ball a nanosecond before Gera, who brushed against his. Still, Fulham, as foreseen, have been much better in this half than they were in the first.

54 mins: Lopez drags a shot wide from 20 yards. On the sidelines, little-known American Clint Dempsey is limbering up ...

55 mins: Fulham substitution: Zamora - clearly bothered by that ankle - lumbers off, Dempsey dashes on.

56 mins: Dempsey kills Gera's ball beautifully with the outside of his right foot, swivels, the fires at goal. Well saved by de Gea. Oh, it wouldn't have counted becuase Dempsey was offside. "Tell that whiner from Cannes that it took me three seconds to find a damn picture of Russell Crowe smiling," croaks ace Googler Timothy Smith.

58 mins: Duff whips in a cross from the left. The ball pingpongs around the Atletico box and then breaks to Davies, who smashes at goal first-time from 12 yards. Excellent reflex save by the keeper! "That 15-story image of Dempsey: Is he blacked up?" wonders Robi Polgar. "Retro-kits may be back in style, but surely not minstrel shows?"

60 mins: Hangeland booked for badmouthing the ref after pulling down Aguero (or it might have been Reyes, I was reading your emails, fruitlessly looking for another good one. Come on, people, get it together). Atletico take the freekick short and it comes to nought.

62 mins: Hearty cheers from the Fulham faithful as the ref, for the first time in a while, awards them a freekick, Raul Garcia having clattered into Gera.

64 mins: As Konchesky shanks an intended pass into the stands, the camera pans to one Hugh Grant in the crowd. And my, is he tucking into that German beer - a whole tray-full in front of him.

66 mins: Jinking run by Duff - who, I happen to know, is the most accurate shooter from outside the box in the Premier league (over 60% on target this season) 0 but he bangs his low shot just wide.

68 mins: Atletico substitution: Simao looks decidedly peeved as he is taken off. Jurado skips on in his place.

70 mins: Davies stands one up to the back post. It's slightly beyond Gera, who attempts an Ibrahimovich-esque flip at it, and fails.

71 mins: "I'm watching in Madrid and can't understand a word the commentators are saying," admits Neil Ainsworth. "What's the situation regarding extra-time, replays, penalties etc. if the score stays the same?" It'll go to a shootout if necessary. But I have approxiamtely 289 mesasges in my inbox assuring me that Dempsey will settle it long before then ...

72 mins: Dempsey wins a corner for Fulham. De Gea punches Davies's delivery away witth one hand.

73 mins: Cool defending by Baird, who trapped a cross in his own box and before wellying clear. "I can't find anywhere to watch this match apart from an Italian restaraunt with a local radio station playing instead of commentary," groans Rena Patel. "Currently it's Alexandra Burke and 'Bad boys'. Omen? Or just a bizarre playlist?"

75 mins: Aguero tries to outfox Schwarzer with a cunningly-taken freekick from 25 yards. But the Australian anticipated it, and collected with ease. Meanwhile, the camera pans to Lily Allen in the crowd. Like Hugh Grant, she is looking very excited, though she does not have 14 steins of beer in front of her.

77 mins: Atletico change: Reyes off, Salvio on. "It's worth reminding Bolton and Gary Megson exactly what they could have had a couple of seasons ago had they not put a joke team out against Lisbon a year or two ago," blurts someone who couldn't be bothered to include her or his name. "Universally liked for their ugly tactics and touted as England manager respectively. Something to consider." And you could almost say the same about Martin O'Neill.

78 mins: Fulham have tightened up defensively and Atletico aren't finding the space that they had been in the first period. When they go forward now they end up firing in long shots. Ujfalusi's effort from 25 yards just now was woeful.

80 mins: Ujfalusi races down the right - Atletico are growing in strength here - but Salvio swipes at the Czech's cross and misses badly. "I'm sitting in a lounge in Heathrow, eyeing the TV remote which is sitting on the arm of a chair occupied by a middle aged woman who is flicking through a celeb photo mag, talking on phone, drinking chardonnay," grumbles Robert Lowery. "She's flicked passed game four times in last five minutes while telling someone how sick of travelling she is ..." Buy her a drink in return for the controller, you cheapskate.

82 mins: Fulham substitution: Duff off, Nevland on."Can you please relay this message to my poor friend MG all at a loss in a five-star hotel in Trivundram, India, no coverage of the Fulham game and hence likely no FA Cup final on the weekend," pleads Daniel Owen. "'You're there to clean up the Ganges, you cad, not to sit in front of the telly and watch footie - get out and get to work'. Thanks"

85 mins: Atletico on the attack, as they have been for most of the last 10 minutes or so. But so far Fulham are holding form and, again, Atletico resort ot a long shot, Garcia blazing wide from 30 yards. "A year or so before Al-Fayed took over, Fulham had a reserve team player on the books by the name of Rob Gale," drones Jim Zinko. "This overall great guy is now Technical Director of the Manitoba Soccer Association. Would anyone like to thank us in Winnipeg, Canada for taking him off your hands? Since then it's been onward and upward for Fulham (as I keep telling him). Al-Fayed's influence is surely a coincidence, no?"

87 mins: Humungous roars from the Fulham as Garcia barges into the Gera to concede a freekick about 25 yards out. This is Murphy territory for sure ... but he clobbers it into the wall.

87 mins: Oh dear. Nevland appears to be in Neverneverland. He was released down the right and had team-mates bursting their lungs in a bid to get into the box ... but he elected to shoot from an absurd angle and missed by about 182 degrees.

90 mins: Atletico continue to look menacing, but Fulham continue to defend stoutly, Hughes, in particular, is playing a stormer. "To Daniel Owen [82 mins] the Ganges is nowhere near Trivandrum, quite the opposite end of the country in fact," notes Usha Sundaram.

90+1 mins: Aguero throws himself to the ground in the box following contact from Hangeland. The replay shows it wasn't a foul but that wasn't obvious on first inspection - at least not to me. The ref, however, got it spot on first time. Go on, treat yourself to a fondle of your luscious hair, Senor Rizzoli.

End of normal time: Golly, we're about to enter abnormal time. This could be fun. "I'm watching this in St. Petersburg and the commentator's sneering about how negative this game is compared to Zenit's triumph over the worst team ever to reach a European final and CSKA's 2005 win over Sporting Lisbon," reports Nicholas Sweeting. "Russian match analysts are generally about as even-handed as Captain Hook but can a less fair-weather football fan than me confirm that this is nonsense?" It is nonsense. (I was hoping the cameraman would start roving around the stadium again so I could make a suitable pun but, alas, he didn't pan to anyone. Seems his enthusiasm for celebrity-spotting has petered out.)

91 mins: We have resumption. And within seconds Davies has a shooting opportunity. He wallops it wide from 20 yards. "You receive many emails from all over the world but show a little sympathy to us students who suffer year on year; as soon as it comes around to 'squeaky-bum time' we have to revise, and are torn between revision and our love for football," moans Alom. "Right now I'm revising 'the feminisation of poverty' in the library while reading your updates on my phone." Get back to your studies, lazer, women all over the world are depending you. No one depends on me.

92 mins: De Gea clutches a Davies corner to his chest. "Maybe Arsenal should plump for a manager swap deal for Sir Woy," recommends Vekram Jenarthanan. "Arsenal will have then won a trophy and Wenger could congratulate himself on getting a team to finish high in the league table, just outside the true title challengers."

94 mins: Nice footwork by Hangeland to sidestep Aguero and initiate a patient Fulham attack. Eventually the win a throw on the right-hand side, mid-way inside the atletico half. "Hi Paul, nice coverage as always - thanks," sweettalks Timo Bures. "Just a little side story: this is Hamburg airport today. There isn't enough space to park the planes and thus one of the two airstrips had to be used, causing significant delay throughout Germany. The spokeswoman-for-the-airport's last line: "Let's hope there is no penalties or there will be chaos" ... How on earth did we manage to host a World Cup if we can't even accommodate the Europa League final?" Now there's a rarity: Germans fearing penalties ...

96 mins: Hughes, that vigilant sentinel, heads a dangerous Ujfalusi cross to safety.

98 mins: Fulham freekick, about 35 yards out. Too far for a shot, surely, but up rumble the lads to jostle for a header. Davies will deliver .... oh ... no he won't ... he attempts a shot ... with predictable consequences.

100 mins: Danger! Hangeland could only skim an Aguero cross to Forlan, who had drifted right out to the far right-hand side of the box. He cracked the ball low and hard acorss the face of goal. Schwarzer dived to palm it out and Etuhu completed the tidy-up operation by booting clear.

102 mins: A nice bit of interplay from Fulham comes to an end when Konchesky gifts possession back to Atletico with an excessively ambitious ball in the general direction of some nobody called Clint Dempsey. "It seems the French are also for Fulham," reports Aidan Gibson. "I'm watching on a French stream, and the commentators are saying 'Allez-vous Fulham'". Guess they retain an affection for the club following the exploits of Tigana, Saha, Malbranque and, er, Steve Marlet.

104 mins: That was better from Konchesky. Aguero was wrigglign around the Fulham box and any sort of clumsiness would surely have sent him falling hopefully to the ground. But Konchesky stayed on his feet and eventually snuffed out the chance.

105 mins: Oooooohhh! Forlan hared past Baird to the by-line and cut the ball back ... it was just behind Aguero ... but Salvio slid in to divert it into the net and send the Atletico fans into the ecstacy! But it was the sidenetting! The fans were fooled by the angle, and now their mightily relieved Fulham counterparts are mocking them heartily.

Half-time in extra time:

106 mins: Dempsey tries to sneak a pass through to Nevland but it is easily cut out. "Atletico's centre-back Perea is the scientific proof that there is
such a thing as cosmic balance," warbles Joao Andre. "In that respect, he is provides
Spanish league's balance to Xavi's passing. Xavi gets his passes right 99.99% of the times, whatever the direction. Perea seems to mishit 99.99% a simple pass from his right to his left foot."

107 mins: Salvio booked for sliding in and catching Konchesky legs in a euthless pincer movement.

108 mins: Promising freekick for Fulham after Dempsey is taken down by Garcia. A bit too far to the left for a shot ... so Murphy clips it it towards Etuhu. De Gea does very well to punch it clear.

109 mins: Does anyone want to be reminded about the last time Roy Hodgson got to the final of this tournament (well, its precurosor)? It was in 1997 with Inter. And he lost on a shootout.

111 mins: Ujfalusi, who has been a constant menace down the right, puts a well-aimed cross on Forlan's feet - again the striker had ghosted away from his would-be marker. But his snapshot from 18 yards was off target.

113 mins: Davies picks out Nevland in the centre. With his back to goal the Norwegian takes the ball well, then pivots and slashes the ball over the bar. "I spent an hour last night watching replays of Brian McBride score goals for Fulham in search of good mojo for today's game," reveals Keith Bitzenhofer. "Come on Dempsey, show Freddie Adu what living up to potential looks like! Or just score a goal."

114 mins: Well done Dempsey! He won the ball in midfield and then held off two as he surged towards Atletico territory ... before being felled by Perea, who cops a deserved booking.

115 mins: Davies, Fulham's best player tonight in an offensive sense, carries the ball froward and then, oh, gives it away. "If there are penalties, Fulham WILL win," thunders Jonny Mac. "I had a dream."

GOAL! Atletico 2-1 Fulham (Forlan 116') Aguero does well to keep the ball in on the left, and then whips in a vicious cross. Forlan got to it first and flicked it goalward. It takes a slight nick off Hangeland and billows in the back of the net.

118 mins: The camera pans back to Lily Allen. She's crying.

119 mins: Fulham change: Murphy off, Greening on. Atletico withdraw Aguero for Valera.

120 mins: Konchesky launches it long, Hangeland flicks on, Nevland chases but De Gea gets there first. "I bloody hate Johnny Mac for jinxing that," fumes Steve Morgan.

120 mins: There will be two more minutes.

120+1 mins: Fulham are bombarding the Atletico box but the Spaniards are defending well, heading clear every time.

Full-time: Atletico Madrid have won the inaugural Europa League, and deservedly so. They showed a little more class up front. If Zamora had been fully fit, it might have been a different story. As it stands, it is one of gallant defeat for Roy Hodgson's fine team. Thanks for tuning in, and for all your emails. Goodbye. "It wasn't about skill until the final minutes, but that's the thing, when everyone is absolutely knackered, Agüero can stand alone on the left and thread a nice pass to Forlán who's just loitering unchecked in the middle of the box, and a little flick kills the game," concludes Gadi Abraham.

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