Kick off in tonight's games is 8:05pm BST. Paul will be here shortly before then with team news and build up. In the meantime here is Sid Lowe on how Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are united in pain following the events of the past few days ...

Barcelona and Real Madrid, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The world's two biggest clubs and the world's two best players came together after all; they just will not come together in Munich as so many anticipated. In 24 hours, the Spanish dream of a European Cup final all of their own dissolved and so did the false national solidarity, the pretence that they were supporting each other. The approaches of Madrid and Barcelona were not the same, nor were their fortunes, but there was something shared about their experience and their fate. The pain is mutual and so is the comfort: we are out but so are they. There were other parallels but it all crystallised in the penalties taken by the men who have come to symbolise their clubs. Messi and Ronaldo have matched each other stride for stride for so long this season, pushing each other on like a kind of footballing Annie Oakley and Frank Butler, but missing from the spot was not a step they intended to take together. On the morning after Barcelona-Chelsea, the newspaper Marca ran photos of the two men under the headline, directed at the Portuguese: "Don't you fail [like Messi]." He did. European elimination has made strange bedfellows. In the aftermath of his team's penalty shootout defeat to Bayern Munich, José Mourinho's discourse focused on Barcelona. Nothing unusual there – he has all too often turned attention on to his rivals – except that for the first time he spoke as if they were in it together: the talk of Barcelona as beneficiaries was replaced by a monologue in which both were victims. By excusing Barcelona's absence in the final, Mourinho excused Madrid's. By defending Messi, he defended Ronaldo. The shield behind which he defended himself and his team was Barcelona. That served to avoid other questions. "We maybe made the mistake of protecting the lead at 2-0," Iker Casillas, the goalkeeper and captain, said. Once Bayern got their goal, levelling the score and putting them in a position where another away goal would have had a huge value, Madrid's inhibition grew. Madrid retreated; Bayern advanced. If caution was understandable, it may also have been costly. Although penalties are, in Casillas's words, "a lottery", Madrid's elimination was not solely misfortune. Jupp Heynckes said: "If you look at the 120 minutes, we deserve to be in the final." Despite Madrid's blistering start here, it was hard to disagree with the Bayern Munich coach. His team had 17 shots, four more than Madrid. The narrative of this match contrasted with that of the one at the Camp Nou but Mourinho drew parallels that were suggestive of parity. There was certainly something in it. "The best footballers miss penalties the same way that the best tennis players don't always win their match points. Ronaldo missed a penalty just as Messi missed a decisive penalty. People act like they are Superman, but Superman is a film," he said, adding for emphasis: "Just a film."

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7.53pm: Thanks for that, Sid. Now for something relevant. Get a load of these teams:

Athletic Bilbao: Iraizoz, Iraola, Javi Martinez, Amorebieta,

Aurtenetxe, Ander Herrera, Iturraspe, Muniain, Susaeta,

Llorente, Ibai. Subs: Raul, Toquero, San Jose, David Lopez,

Gabilondo, Inigo Perez, Ekiza.

Sporting: Rui Patricio, Joao Pereira, Anderson Polga, Xandao, Insua, Andre Martins, Schaars, Fernandez, Bruno Pereirinha,

van Wolfswinkel, Diego Capel. Subs: Tiago, Daniel Carrico,

Onyewu, Evaldo, Jeffren, Carrillo, Rubio.

Referee: Martin "Extra Sensory Perception" Atkinson



Valencia v Atletico Madrid

Valencia: Diego Alves, Barragan, Rami, Ricardo Costa,

Jordi Alba, Albelda, Parejo, Feghouli, Jonas, Canales, Soldado.

Subs: Guaita, Maduro, Aduriz, Piatti, Victor Ruiz, Mathieu,

Tino Costa.

Atletico Madrid: Courtois, Juanfran, Godin, Miranda,

Filipe Luis, Mario Suarez, Tiago, Turan, Adrian, Diego, Falcao.

Subs: Sergio Asenjo, Salvio, Gabi, Dominguez, Koke, Perea, Martin.

Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

8.00pm: You will note that the team-sheets below to not include the names of the manager. So let me remind you that Bilbao's boss is Marcelo Bielsa - and he is said to be one of the leading candidates to replace Pep Guardiola at Barcelona next season if the rumours that PG is stepping down transpire to be true.

8.06pm: Kick-offs! Both matches have just begun, and I have split-screen that in theory enables me to follow both but in practice is just giving me a headache. Never mind, in true John terry style I will battle on courageously. And perhaps thrust in a knee to the first person who comes my way, which could be bad news for @evanfanning.

8.08pm: Bilbao, who are trailing 1-2 from the away leg, are marauding forward, in keeping with expectations. But Sporting, clad in white shirts, white socks and sensible high-visibility lime green socks, are holding firm so far.

8.11pm: Courtois, the 19-year-old Belgian keeper on loan at Atletico from Chelsea, is down injured after surging off his line to clasp a freekick. And in the time it took me to write that sentence, his injury has disappeared and he's wellied the ball clear.

8.13pm: Preposterous villainy from Valencia's Soldado, who collapses to the ground holding his nose after catching a manual fob-off in the chest from an opponent. The ref is no BA Baracus and is not in a tank, but he's not having such tomfoolery and orders the clown to get to his feet pronto.

8.16pm: Bilbao are piling on the pressure and starting to find gaps in the Sporting defence, but the altest one was closed rapidly jsut as Muniain shaped to shoot from 10 yards: two defenders slid in to divert his shot behind for a corner.

8.19pm: More fuel for those who want Uefa to change their suspension rules: if Sporting get to the final, Ricky van Wolfswinkel won't be able to play, as he's just got a yellow card.

8.21pm: Right, reckon I'm going to devote most of my attention to the Bilbao-Sporting game: the other one is full of diving and stoppages, whereas this one has joyous flashes of skill such as the one just produced by Gomez, who slalomed between two Sporting defenders before blasting a fine shot at goal that Patricio saved.

GOAL! Bilbao 1-0 Sporting [2-2 on agg] {Suaseta 18')

A sumptuous goal from the hosts! After wizardry wide on the right, Muniain crossed for Llorente, who took it down on his chested near the penalty spot and dinked it back to Susaeta, who clobbered a bouncing shot into the net to give Bilbao a well-deserved lead in this match and, on away goals, in the tie.

8:26pm: Promising riposte by Sporting. Capel raced down the left and clipped in a cross that Pereirinha headed just over.

8.27pm: Over in the Mestalla, Valencia has jsut gone close, as Barragan crossed from the right and Soldado shot over.

8:30pm: Bilbao-Sporting is a terrific, high-tempo, high-skill contest. Goals ahoy!

8.31pm: Sporting have reacted well to going behind and are generating oplenty of forward momentum but their final ball is foiling them so far.

8.32pm: It's all Valencia at the Mestalla, where Atletico Madrid seem to be intent solely on soaking up the pressure and relying on their two-goal first-leg lead to take them through.

8.34pm: Gah! Another ripping break by Sporting, and another wayward cross. Van Wolfswinkel is already on a booking and if this continues there's every chance to the sloppyg service leading him to get another one for some act of deep frustration.

8.36pm: If Bielsa does go to Barcelona, there are some wonderful players at Bilbao that he might be tempted to take with him: Suaseta, Muniain and Llorente are all a joy to watch. Unless you're a Sporting fan, because they're tearing your team apart at the moment.

8.38pm: Sporting nearly bite back! Anderson Polga got his head to a corner at the near post and forced a desperate save from Iraizoz.

8.39pm: Valencia continue to dominate in the other game but Madrid continue to repel them, putting in almost Chelsea-style performance so far.

8.40pm: As I was saying: Courtois, the Chelsea loanee in Madrid's goal, has just been booked for time-wasting: only 55 more minutes to hold out ...

8.44pm: Lovely interplay by Valencia before Canales fires at goal from 14 yards but Courtois pushes it behind for another corner to Valencia, who had done everything but score.

8.45pm: Madrid almost score on the counter! But are thwarted by Alves, who scurried out of his box to disposses Turan.

8.47pm: Beautiful move by Bilbao! it should have resulted in a goal but Llorente's finish was a tad casual, allowing the keeper to scramble across his line to push away the 10-yard shot.

8.48pm: Sporting are certainly contributing to this spectacle, particularly down the left, where Insua and Capel have combined to good effect.

GOAL! (=Bilbao 1-1 Sporting [agg: 2-3] (Van Wolfswinkel 45') That's a deadly finish by the Dutchman! Bilbao only half-cleared a corner and the striker pounced to sweep it into the net from 18 yards. That's them back in front on aggregate.

GOAL! Bilbao 2-1 Sporting [agg: 3-3] (Gomez 45+1') Another gorgeous move, featuring a glorious drag-back and pass by Llorente to Gomez, who clipped the ball over the out-rushing goalkeeper to bring the sides level on aggregate. If it stays like this there will be extra-time but that seems unlikely as there will almost certainly be more goals in the second half.

Half-time in both games: It's goalless at the Mestalla tahnks to marvellous Madrid defending, and it's glorious at the San Mames. Be sure to come back after the break.

9.06pm: "You're looking rather lonely on this MBM," sobs Phil Sawyer. "Is this due to lack of emails or the demands of split screen action on your powers of concentration? Incidentally, I like the fact that the strap line at the top says 'Email your thought to Paul Doyle'. Nice to see that the Guardian has finally gauged the mental level of MBMers and realised that 'thoughts' is possibly a tad optimistic." In this era of cut-backs, even a redundant 's' must be purged.

9.07pm: The games are back on. And before the denouement of this pair, we must take a moment to say what a superb week of European club football this has been: belting matches in both Uefa tournament so far. It'll be interesting to compare the latter stages of the Champiuons League and Europa League to this summer's European Championships to see how far the international game is lagging behind the club game/how different these spearate formats are.

9.11pm: It's interesting how, if you've missed the first chunk of a game, you can always tell how it's going within seconds of tuning in, just by the tone of the commentators. On Five (which is showing Bilbao-Sporting) the guys in the gantry are yammering away to each other like it's a Saturday night jamboree, while over on ITV, Clive Tyldsley and Andy Townsend have a decidedly Sunday afternoon vibe.

9.14pm: Off the post! Martinez was inches away from giving Bilbao the lead on aggregate, but his header from a corner bounced out off the upright.

9.14pm: A ferocious 30-yard freekick from Insua takes a nick off a Bilbao defender and cannons off the post! "I wanted to pose my thoughts as questions," demands Herman Hooker, who with a name like that must get asked a few questions himself. "Firstly, where would Athletic finish in the Premier League and, secondly, which premier league club would you like to see Bielsa manage?" Well, I don't know how deep Bilbao's squad is but based solely on the evidence of their games against Man United and Sporting, they'd blow everyone away. As for who I'd like Bielsa to manage, I always like the most interesting managers to have as much resources as possible so they can put all their ideas into practice, so I'd like to see him at Man City.

9.18pm: A porlonged pause at the Mestalla due to a serious-looking injury to Canales, who has been one of the best playerson show so far. Eventually he is carried off on a stretcher and replaced by Mathieu.

WHAT A GOAL! Valencia 0-1 A Madrid [agg: 2-5] (Adrian Lopez 60') That is superbly taken. With one touch he killed a long diagonal ball on his chest and teed himself up for a volley from the corner of the box, which he duly enflamed into the top corner! Valencia now need to score thrice to go through.

9.24pm: Turan comes close to netting another for Madrid, receiving the ball down the right and twinkling his way into the box before unleashing a shot that Alves batted away for a corner.

9.25pm: Sporting substitution: Suarez on, Pereirinha off.

9.27pm: "While the quality of the best teams in the European Cup probably exceeds that of the best national teams for a variety of reasons today, am I alone in still thinking that the World Cup is the pinnacle of the sport?" wonders Declan Johnston. "The Uefa championsips are great and that much has been proved this week, but the prestige of the World Cup still does it for me, maybe because I'm Irish and the whole World Cup experience is still a bit of a novelty. While the Champions League this year has been particularly exciting, I still think the Euros in the Summer will stick longer in my mind." The last three World Cups have been plod, yet I too believe the international game has a layer of meaning and intensity that the club game can't match. Which is why I am pleased that both formats of the game exist. And as your fellow Irishman, I too hope we get something (good) to remember this summer.

9.30pm: Tonk! Iturrapse's long-range swirler brings an awkward save from Patricio.

9.32pm: Muniain feeds Llorrente after another flowing Bilbao move, but the striker heads straight at the keeper.

9.33pm: "I have a thought!" eureakas Simon McMAHON. "Here's my thought, Paul. Why can darts players play with a full-blown rave going on behind them and yet snooker players complain if someone in the back row sneezes? Nothing to do with the football, admittedly, but a thought nonetheless." It's a good question. I, for one, have played all of my best snooker (well, pool) in ramshackle bars full of boozed-up oafs and thunderous heavy metal as a soundtrack.

9.35pm: Sporting have done well to avoid conceding a third goial despite waves of Bilbao attacking, and the visitors have also shown an ability to count er-attack intermittently. The game is on a knife-edge ...

9.37pm: Ywllow card for Gomez for diving in an attempt to win a penalty for Bilbao. He's not the first to do that tonight, but that was by far the worst attempt.

9.38pm: A juvenile kerfuffle at the Mestalla, with almost all of the players enagged in pushing and shoving and finger-wagging .. and a few slaps: one of which appears to have hit Soldado, who is now sporting a bump on his face. There follows a RED CARD for Tiago, the Madrid captain having taken a leaf out of John Terry's book and performed a ludicrous act of violence: the replay shows it was he who struck Soldado, who has to be restrained as he attempts to confront Tiago as he makes his way off the pitch.

9.41pm: Sporting change: Martins, who has been brilliant, is being takean off, presumably because he's tired. Carrillo comes on in his stead.

9.46pm: Sporting size up an attacking freekick, as the camera pans around the San Mames to show hordes of nervous Basques. But their team defends it well.

9.47pm: Barcelona looked a little jaded towards the end of their game agaisnt Chelsea: Bilbao are the only team from the top European leagues to have played almost as many matches as them this season (57 to Barça's 59) - will they start to suffer in similar fashion if this goes to extra-time? That question is addressed to you, Mr Think-of-Everything Bielsa

GOAL! Bilbao 3-1 Sporting [agg: 4-3] (Llorente 88') Superb! A long cross from right found Gomez, who took it down, twisted past his man and hammered a low ball into the six-yard box. Llorente stuck out a leg at t he near post to guide it past the keeper and trigger an almighty eruption of roars in ther San Mames!

9.52pm: Rather than hang on to their lead, Bilbao are going for a fourth! And after another wonderful move, Gomez lowers the tone with a despicable dive in the box. Lucky not to get booked.

9.54pm: Sporting try to poop the Bilbao party with a last-ditch attack, but Suarez's ambitious long shot is saved by Iraizoz.

9.55pm: It's over at the Mestalla, where Valencia have been dumped out by Atletico Madrid thanks to a spectacular goal by Adrian Lopez.

9.56pm: The full-time whistle is the catalyst for scenes of celebration as joyous as the way that Bilbao have played football throughout this superb European campaign. They have been one of the revelations of the European season and they could crown it by winning an all-Spanish final. Make sure you get to see it. Or at least follow the mbm here. Bye!