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caption:Andrea Pirlo celebrates after scoring an early free kick for Juventus.
END# Juventus reached the semifinals of the Europa League after beating Lyon 2-1 in Turin to progress 3-1 on aggregate. • Rzouki: Good win, but bigger tests to come Andrea Pirlo had opened the scoring with a free kick after only four minutes to put Juve two up on aggregate, but Jimmy Briand headed home soon afterwards to give the Ligue 1 side an away goal and hope of an upset. Carlos Tevez appeared to have restored Juve’s cushion on the hour only to see his header ruled out by the offside flag, but Claudio Marchisio eventually settled their nerves when his long-range strike was diverted home via a wicked deflection. The scudetto holders, who are hoping to reach the final at their own Juventus Stadium, will learn the identity of their semifinal opponents during Friday’s draw in Nyon. Valencia completed a stunning comeback as they saw off Basel 5-0 to secure a 5-3 aggregate victory. Valencia appeared to have little hope after losing the first leg 3-0 in Switzerland, but Paco Alcacer was allowed space to control and slot past the goalkeeper on 38 minutes and Eduardo Vargas then headed home a corner just before the break. With 20 minutes remaining, Alcacer smashed a shot off the underside of the crossbar to level the tie on aggregate and force extra-time. Basel saw their hopes recede significantly when Marcelo Diaz and Gaston Sauro were sent off in the 101st and 104th minutes, and Alcacer completed his hat trick on 112 minutes to give Los Che the advantage before Juan Bernat added a fifth two minutes from time. Sevilla bounced back from a 1-0 defeat in Portugal to beat Porto 4-1 in Spain. Sevilla levelled the scores early on when Ivan Rakitic converted a penalty, and Vitolo and Carlos Bacca gave them control of the tie with goals in the 26th and 30th minutes. The hosts saw Coke sent off in the second half but were still able to extend their advantage late on through Kevin Gameiro, although Ricardo Quaresma netted an injury-time consolation for Porto. Benfica eased into the last four with a 2-0 win against AZ Alkmaar to progress 3-0 on aggregate. Rodrigo opened the scoring on the night and then hooked home at the far post on 72 minutes for his second to complete a comfortable evening for the Portuguese giants.
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