Italian sides Juventus and Valencia have both defeated their rivals in stirring performances on Thursday to cruise into the semi-finals of the Europa League.
There was a time when Italian teams dominated European football' second-tier competition, winning the UEFA Cup in six of seven seasons starting in the late 1980s, although the last Italian team to win the event, now the Europa League, was Parma in 1999.
According to CNN, Juventus, which is the runaway leader in Serie A, beat Lyon 2-1 at Juventus Stadium and 3-1 on aggregate, marking a first European semifinal since the club lost the Champions League final to AC Milan in 2003 before a match-fixing scandal stripped them of two Serie A titles and saw them demoted.
The report mentioned that Juventus was joined in the last four by Valencia, which made history in overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Basel, Sevilla and 2013 finalist Benfica.
Andrea Pirlo struck early for Juventus before Jimmy Briand leveled in the first half as the visitor enjoyed a good spell and the report added that Samuel Umtiti's own goal settled the affair in the 68th minute.
Paco Alcacer's hat-trick inspired Valencia in its 5-0 extra-time victory while Basel had two men sent off in extra time, the report added.
