Valencia have sensationally turned around a three-goal first-leg deficit by beating Basel 5-0 on the night after extra time and proceeding to the Europa League semi-finals.
The home side, 3-0 down after the first leg, applied most of the early pressure, but the first chance of the game fell to Basel in the 11th minute when Serey Die fired a shot from distance that flew just over the crossbar.
The Mestalla outfit struck their first goal in the 38th minute when Paco Alcacer, assisted by Joao Pereira, slotted the ball into the Basel net.
Eduardo Vargas then struck a second goal just four minutes later when he nodded in Federico Cartabia's corner just moments after his initial header had won the set piece.
The deficit was then nullified in the 70th minute, much to the disbelief of both home and away fans, when Alcacer struck his second of the game with a thumping effort from the edge of the box that lashed in off the crossbar.
With the tie level after 90 minutes, extra time then followed, and it proved to be a tense affair with both sets of players committing plenty of fouls.
Eight players went into the book during the additional half-hour, while two Basel players, Marcelo Diaz and Gaston Sauro, were sent off outright for bad tackles.
Valencia then completed a remarkable turnaround when Alcacer sealed his hat-trick with just seven minutes left, a close-range tap-in.
Juan Bernat then sent the home fans into raptures with a fifth goal for the Spanish side in the 118th minute.
Giuseppe Labellarte
