Juve face Benfica in semis
Both sides remain undefeated in their six Europa matches
nyon — Juventus face a tough task to reach a Europa League final in their own stadium after the Italian champions were handed a tough semi-final draw against Portuguese league leaders Benfica at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on Friday.
Both sides remain undefeated in their six matches since joining the competition at the knockout stage and whoever advances will meet
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the winners of the other semi-final between Spanish sides Sevilla and Valencia. It is the first time the Spanish rivals have met in European competition while Juventus have faced Benfica twice before, with the Portuguese winning a European Cup semi-final in 1968 but losing to the Italians in a UEFA Cup quarter-final 21 years ago.
Benfica and Sevilla will host the first legs on April 24, with the reverse fixtures on May 1. The final is being held in Turin on May 24 but Juventus will be forced to use the away dressing room should they advance, with the winners of the all-Spanish semi-final designated as the home team for the title match.
Earlier, Valencia turned the tables on a stunned Basle side to reach the Europa League semifinals on Thursday with a 5-0 win after extra time thanks to a Paco Alcacer hat-trick as they recovered from a three-goal first-leg deficit.
It completed a good night for Spain as 10-man Sevilla tormented a fragile Porto side to win 4-1 on the night and secure a 4-2 aggregate victory while competition favourites Juventus and Benfica safely negotiated their quarter-finals.
Serie A leaders Juve beat Olympique Lyon 2-1 in Turin to go through 3-1 on aggregate with an Andrea Pirlo freekick and a Samuel Umtiti own goal while Benfica’s Rodrigo scored twice in a 2-0 home win over AZ Alkmaar to complete a 3-0 overall success. Basle, who were reduced to nine men in extra-time, went into the second leg 3-0 up and full of confidence at a highly-charged Mestalla stadium, but they came up against a Valencia side with the bit between their teeth. No team had overhauled a three-goal deficit in a knockout tie since the Europa League started in 2009 but the hosts signalled their intent when Alcacer beat keeper Yann Sommer after collecting Joao Pereira’s pinpoint pass in the 38th minute. The impossible became faintly probable four minutes later when Eduardo Vargas headed home from Fede Cartabia’s corner and the deficit was then wiped out with 20 minutes remaining as Alcacer rifled the ball into the top corner to send the home fans into raptures and set up a thrilling finale. —