Coro's cool head comforts Espanyol

RCD Espanyol forward Ferrán Corominas insisted his team's place at the UEFA Cup final in Glasgow was never in doubt, despite Werder Bremen shocking the Barcelona club with an early goal before Ernesto Valverde's side eventually eased to a 5-1 aggregate triumph.

'Never doubted'
"Bremen came out with great purpose, as if they wanted to score the three or four goals they needed before half-time," said Coro. They managed one, through Hugo Almeida after four minutes, and a second appeared likely before Miroslav Klose's dismissal midway through the half deflated Bremen's hopes of cancelling out the 3-0 first-leg deficit. "The sending off was well timed for us," Coro continued. "I never doubted we'd prevail though, even at 1-0 down, because we're in great shape at the moment."

Decisive strike
The inevitability of victory was less clear to many inside the capacity Weserstadion, and it was not until the 24-year-old equalised five minutes after half-time, pouncing on a fumble by Andreas Reinke, that the Catalan minority could finally watch in comfort. Jesús María Lacruz headed in a second goal just after the hour to seal an aggregate triumph but for Pablo Zabaleta, the first strike was the decisive one. "Coro's strike was key for us," said the midfielder. "He's a great player, a deadly striker and we're grateful he's on our side."

Perfect timing
Coro was also on target in the first leg and is developing a penchant for scoring important goals. It was his injury-time strike against Real Sociedad de Fútbol on the final day of last season that saved Los Periquitos from relegation. Despite attempts to play down talk of reaching the final, the thought of heading to Glasgow on 16 May had never been far from everyone's minds. "The coach has refused to use the word Glasgow for the past week, but secretly we've all been talking about it," club president Daniel Sánchez Llibre joked, as Ernesto Valverde vaulted a barrier to embrace him. "Now we have a final against Sevilla [FC] to look forward to."