Atletico give Spain only joy in Europa League

Madrid – An injury time goal from Uruguayan winger Cebolla Rodriguez gave defending champions Atletico Madrid a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League.

Atletico struggled to break down the visiting defense and Rodriguez’s goal came when the game looked destined to end in a draw here on Thursday, reports Xinhua.

Meanwhile in other matches, Levante rested several key players for their trip to Hannover and paid for that with a 1-2 defeat.

Michel opened the scoring for the Spaniards from the penalty spot, but Huszti soon leveled, also from the spot, before Ya Konan scored the winner just four minutes into the second half.

The defeat was disappointing for Levante given that Hannover played with 10 men for 81 minutes after Haggi had been sent off for committing the first penalty of the game.

Athletic Bilbao‘s season continues without the Basque side showing signs of improvement as they crashed to a 1-3 defeat to Sparta Prague.

Oscar de Marcos scored Athletic’s only goal of the night when his side was already 3-0 down following goals from Zapotochny, an own goal from Aritz Aduriz and a penalty scored by Husabuer for a Xabi Castillo foul, which was clearly outside the penalty area.