MADRID — Defending champion Barcelona set up a King's Cup semifinal with its arch-rival Real Madrid after a thrilling 4-2 second leg win in Malaga Thursday. The La Liga leader progressed 6-4 on aggregate after drawing 2-2 in the Nou Camp last week, with goals from Pedro, Gerard Pique and late strikes from Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi putting them through. Malaga's Joaquin had quickly canceled out Pedro's early strike in the 12th minute and after Pique netted early in the second half, Roque Santa Cruz put the host back in the tie after 68 minutes. However, Manuel Pellegrini's side ran out of steam as the game wore on after an impressive first half and Iniesta combined with Cesc Fabregas for a wonderful third after 76 minutes. Messi ended the game as a contest with 10 minutes to go. Jose Mourinho's Real beat Valencia 3-1 on aggregate, despite having two players sent off in Wednesday's 1-1 second-leg draw at the Mestalla. The semifinal first legs are scheduled for next week. On the other side of the draw, Atletico Madrid set up a last four encounter with Sevilla after drawing 1-1 at its city rival Real Betis to progress 3-1 on aggregate. Diego Costa scored a valuable away goal, to add to last week's 2-0 victory at the Calderon, after a dreadful misunderstanding in the Betis defense just before halftime. Chasing a long punt over the top Betis defender Antonio Amaya did not see his keeper Casto Espinosa had raced out of the area and he headed the ball past him allowing Costa to run through and tap into an empty net. La Liga's second-placed side Atletico successfully stifled its host until it gave away a penalty in the final minute to concede its first goal in six games in this season's cup competition. Atletico defender Diego Godin bundled over Jorge Molina in the area and the striker netted from the spot. 13 cities to host Euro 2020 UEFA has decided that the 2020 European Championship will be played in 13 countries, with each host providing a single stadium. UEFA will encourage smaller countries to join the project by choosing two stadiums holding as few as 30,000 spectators. Other stadiums must have at least 50,000 capacity. UEFA President Michel Platini said Turkey is his favored choice to host the final and both semifinals. However, he said a Turkish bid will be “out of the question” if Istanbul is chosen in September as the host of the 2020 Olympics. — Agencies
