Barcelona through to Spanish Cup final

Barcelona are through to the final of the Spanish Cup after goals from Cesc Fabregas and Xavi Hernandez saw them beat Valencia 2-0 for a 3-1 aggregate success.

Fabregas opened the scoring in the 15th minute when he ran onto Lionel Messi’s pass before lobbing goalkeeper Diego Alves.

Valencia were reduced to 10 men in the 76th minute when Sofiane Feghouli received a second yellow card, and Barca made their man advantage count just five minutes later when Fabregas turned provider to set up Xavi for the home side’s second goal.

The Catalan giants will now face Athletic Bilbao in the Madrid final, in a clash between the two most successful clubs in the history of the Spanish Cup.

Last year’s beaten finalists Barca, who last won the trophy in 2009 against Bilbao, have lifted the cup 25 times, while Bilbao have won it on 23 occasions, although not since 1984.

Meanwhile, in Italy, a double strike from Martin Caceres helped Juventus win 2-1 at AC Milan in the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal at the San Siro.

After a goalless first half, Juve took a 53rd-minute lead when Marco Amelia failed to hold Marco Borriello’s shot and Caceres stroked home the loose ball.

However, Milan leveled just nine minutes later when Massimo Ambrosini teed up Stephen El Shaarawy to fire home.

Milan looked the likelier side to score, but Juventus broke down the left seven minutes from time, with Emanuele Giaccherini’s cross superbly curled home by Caceres.

The result ensures Juve remain unbeaten in league and cup this season and they are now firm favorites to progress to the final where they will play either Siena or Napoli – who play their first leg on Thursday.

Also in Italy, Catania and Roma played out the final 25 minutes of their abandoned Serie A clash but could add not add to the score, with the match finishing 1-1.

Originally played on January 15 the game had been called off after 65 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.

In England, Sunderland defeated local rivals Middlesbrough 2-1 in extra time in their FA Cup fourth round replay, and will now host Arsenal in the last 16 later this month.

Meanwhile, all four away teams are through to the semifinals of the German Cup, with Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Moenchengladbach and Greuther Fuerth securing their places.

The biggest surprise saw second division Greuther Fuerth win 1-0 at Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, with Canadian striker Olivier Occean scoring the only goal.

Bayern won 2-0 at Stuttgart, thanks to goals from Franck Ribery and Mario Gomez, while Gladbach needed extra time to squeeze past Hertha Berlin 2-0.

On Tuesday, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund survived arctic-like temperatures to win 4-0 at minnows Holstein Kiel.