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January 28, 2012

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Milan sets up Juve clash; Valencia wins

Serie A champion AC Milan set up a mouth-watering Italian Cup semifinal against league pacesetter Juventus after a 3-1 quarterfinal home win against Lazio on Thursday.

Djibril Cisse gave the visitors the lead after just five minutes at the San Siro before Milan took control with two goals in four minutes from Robinho and Clarence Seedorf before Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic wrapped up the victory.

Brazilian Robinho scored with a close-range volley after 15 minutes to equalize and midfielder Seedorf put Milan in front after rounding goalkeeper Federico Marchetti and firing home. Ibrahimovic sealed the win six minutes from time to set up a two-legged semifinal against Juventus in February and March when Napoli plays Siena in the other last-four clash.

Juventus beat AS Roma 3-0 while Napoli knocked out holder Inter Milan 2-0 and Siena won 1-0 at Chievo Verona.

In Spain, Valencia's Pablo Piatti scored twice to set up a meeting with Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semifinals after helping his side to a 7-1 aggregate win at city rival Levante on Thursday.

Aritz Aduriz set the 2008 Cup winner on its way to a 3-0 quarterfinal, second-leg victory from Piatti's pullback in the 25th before the provider turned scorer five minutes later, sprinting clear to score.

The Argentine midfielder wrapped up the win at Levante's Ciutat de Valencia stadium near the end after the host's new signing Oscar Serrano was sent off on his debut, 18 minutes from time.

Valencia, which is third in La Liga, takes on European and Spanish champion Barcelona next Wednesday in the semifinal, first leg at the Mestalla.

The second semifinal sees 23-time Cup winner Athletic Bilbao take on giant-killer Mirandes of Spain's Segunda B (third tier), which has already put out top-flight Villarreal, Racing Santander and Espanyol.



 

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