ATHLETIC BILBAO (Estadio San Mamés)

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP STAGE, ATHLETIC BILBAO 5-3 KRC GENK, ATTENDANCE: 33,417

For the final game of my Spanish trilogy, I headed north to the largest city in the Basque Country, Bilbao.

In the week of the first anniversary of his passing, I followed in the footsteps of Everton Legend Howard Kendall by heading to the San Mames stadium to watch Athletic Bilbao take on Genk in the Europa League.

Ok, this was not the San Mames in which Mr Kendall had coached but the brand new version. The ground was opened in 2013 and, I have to admit, it is a mightily impressive arena.

The ground was built adjacent to the old ground, with three sides of the new build completed whilst Bilbao still played on the old ground. The fourth side was completed once the old ground had been levelled. (Images of the building work can be found here)

It was a flying visit which, sadly, meant little time for any of the touristy stuff. However there was time for a pre-match drink in the rather splendid Singular bar (pictured right). A fine selection of craft beers were on offer for the discerning drinker.

From there it was a 20 minute walk to the ground where tonight I witnessed a small piece of history.

Since the Europa League was revamped into its current format, no player has scored five goals in one game. Tonight veteran Spanish striker Aritz Aduriz achieved that feat as Bilbao came out on top in eight goal thriller.

The scoreline could have been anything as both teams went all out attack. Bilbao scored their goals at the right times to keep their noses in front of the Belgians, who possibly could have grabbed a draw with their second half pressure.

Aduriz put Bilbao 2-0 up with a tap in at the near post (7) and a penalty kick (23) which was awarded by English referee Martin Atkinson, before Leon Bailey slotted home to half the deficit. Aduriz completed his hat-trick before half time with another penalty kick (43).

Onyinye Ndidi made it 3-2 in the 50th minute when he headed home a cross. A defence splitting pass (74) played Aduriz through one-on-one to score his fourth. Genk refused to lie down and five minutes later Tino Sušić scored to once again bring them back within one goal.

In stoppage time though Atkinson awarded Bilbao another penalty and Aduriz stepped up to write his name in the history books. Credit both teams for producing a fantastic game to watch. A fine way to end my Spanish adventure!

Aritz Aduriz scores his third penalty of the match in stoppage time
and secures himself a place in the Europa league history books.

Headlines in the newspapers.

AD ALCORCÓN (Estadio Municipal de Santo Domingo)

SEGUNDA DIVISION, AD ALCORCÓN 1-0 ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO II, ATTENDANCE: 2,221

After a couple of nights in Valencia, it was back on the fast train and back to the Spanish capital for today's game.

I headed, by train, south west of Madrid (from Atocha to Las Retamas to be exact) to the city of Alcorcón from where it was a five minute walk from the train stop to the home of AD Alcorcón.

Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón were founded in 1971 and have spent most of their history between the Spainsh fourth tier and regional leagues. In 2000 the club won promotion to the Segunda División B, establishing itself as a mid-table outfit before finishing third in 2009 and earning a play in the play offs

Alcorcón lost 3-1 on aggregate in the play off final to Real Unión Club de Irun but the following season they were finally promoted to the second tier, after defeating Ontinyent CF 4-3 on aggregate in the play off final. The club have remained in the Segunda Division since and are currently in the mix for a play off spot from promotion to La Liga.

The club achieved the most famous result in it's history on the 27th October 2009 when they defeated Real Madrid 4-0 in the Copa del Rey. It was Madrid's second string line up but nonetheless still contained nine internationals including Jerzy Dudek, Raúl, Rafael van der Vaart and Karim Benzema.

The Estadio Municipal de Santo Domingo is AD Alcorcón's home ground and has capacity of 5,000. The ground is surrounded by various pitches, with various pieces of football furniture. Some groundhoppers may be able to tick at least four ground in one afternoon if they so wished.

As I arrived at the ground there was a youth game about to kick off on one of the adjacent pitches. I could have watched and bagged myself a double but I preferred the option of walking to a nearby bar and sinking a couple of Estrella's whilst watching Barcelona on the TV.

Today Alcorcón  were facing the B team of Athletico Bilbao, who are currently bottom of the table. The game was dominated by the home side but they found Álex Remiro in the Bilbao goal in good form. The game was settled 10 minutes into the second half when David Rodríguez fired home the only goal of the game (pictured left).

The ground is a bit of a sun trap and it was nice watching the game with a bit of sun on my back, especially when hearing of the freezing temperatures and postponed games back home!

The sun sets on the Estadio Municipal de Santo Domingo