Hanover 96 had everything to play for against Atletico Madrid as their second leg Europa League quarterfinal match kicked off in front of a sold-out crowd of 49,000 in the friendly confines of their home ground, the AWD Arena. The away goal scored in Madrid in the first match meant a single goal and a clean sheet would be enough for the Germans to go through to the semifinals.

In view of this fact, it came as little surprise that Hanover took the game to Atletico right from the outset. But as Hanover's technical director observed shortly after the referee blew his whistle for the break, the Bundesliga side had nothing to show for its efforts in the first 45 minutes.

“Madrid are packing the back. We're controlling the game without creating many chances,” Jörg Schmadke told broadcaster SKY at the half.

Hanovercontinued to apply pressure in the second half, but major defensive blunders proved to be costly.

In the 63rd minute, Atletico's Adrian Lopez challenged Hanover defender Emanuel Pogatetz, who seemed to have the better position to gain control of the ball. But Lopez persisted, taking the ball in the middle of the penalty area and masterfully out-touching Christian Pander twice and Hanover's charging keeper, Ron-Robert Zieler, before scoring.

Hanoverplayed feverously at trying to even the score and find two goals that would have forced extra time. Mame Diouf took a cross following a corner and scored just inside the post.

Hanoverhad nine minutes left to score once more and keep their hopes of advancing alive, but Radamel Falcao again took advantage of a defensive breakdown by Hanover and put the game out of reach.

"Madrid was a great opponent, but I think we had more in us," said Hanover's coach Mirko Slomka, whose team was playing for the first time in an international competition.

Atletico advances to the semifinals and will face Valencia, who beat Dutch side AZ Aklmaar 4-0 to move on.

No German teams left

Germany's other remaining team in the Europa League, Schalke, went into the match in Bilbao with a major hill to climb, having dropped a 4-2 decision at home in the first leg.

Schalke were the better team through much of the first half as they looked to score the three goals they needed to advance to the semifinals, while keeping Bilbao's strikers at bay.

The Royal Blues were rewarded for their efforts in the 29th minute when they took advantage of Ander Herrera's stray pass. Jermaine Jones played the ball through to Schalke's Dutch international striker, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who hammered the ball from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom right-hand corner, past Gorka Iraizoz's outstretched hand.

After they went down a goal on the night, Bilbao seemed to pick up their play and soon added to their aggregate total. In the 41st minute, Ibai Gomez picked up the ball well outside the box, cut inside a Schalke defender and unleashed a curling shot from 25 meters that left Schalke's young goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall chanceless.

That all but ended Schalke's hopes, as it meant that the Germans would have to score at least four goals in the second half to advance.

They got one after seven minutes from a crushing shot from 20 meters by Raul, but Schalke's 2-1 was quickly erased in the 55th minute when Iker Muniain crossed to Markel Susaeta, who slid the ball in past Unnerstall's near post.

Bilbao's semifinal opponent will be Sporting Lisbon. Their 1-1 draw against Metalist Kharkiv was enough to put them through after winning the first leg 2-1.

pfd,mz/slk (dpa, SID)