Sevilla return for UEFA Cup defence

Sevilla trailed 1-0 after the first leg in Pamplona but they produced an impressive display at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Thursday night to take a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Brazilian duo Luis Fabiano and Renato Dirnei scored in either half for Sevilla, who now have the chance to become only the second team to defend their UEFA Cup title after Real Madrid.

Osasuna - playing in their first European semi-final - were first to threaten in the eighth minute when Juanfran picked up the ball on the edge of the box, and only a desperate block from Sevilla centre-back Julien Escude prevented what could easily have been the opening goal of the game.

It was pretty much all Sevilla for the remainder of the first half though, with Luis Fabiano and Antonio Puerta both blazing over from decent positions soon after. Brave goalkeeper from Osasuna's Ricardo then denied Luis Fabiano after the Brazilian forward had spun around his marker to chase down a long Daniel Alves punt forward.

Sevilla lost Adriano to injury in the 26th minute, with Duda taking his place, but the switch did not appear to affect the home side's momentum. They continued to push forward and were rewarded when Luis Fabiano broke the deadlock in the 37th minute with a fine display of skill and determination.

There appeared little threat when Christian Poulsen pumped a hopeful ball to the edge of the visitor's box, but Luis Fabiano managed to pull the pass down, shrug off the challenges of two Osasuna defenders before slotting his shot under Ricardo to level up the aggregate scores.

Soon after the re-start came arguably the key stage of the match as Osasuna striker Pierre Webo scuffed an opportunity in front of goal, and Sevilla immediately raced down the other end to take a 2-0 lead through Renato in the 54th minute.

Alves sent in a cross from the right and the unmarked Renato sent a cushioned volley into the back of the net with Ricardo motionless.

Osasuna would not find a way back into the tie and Sevilla, who had late chances to record a more emphatic scoreline, held on to set up a final showdown with another Spanish side Espanyol, who knocked out Werder Bremen in the other semi-final.