Juventus beat Lyon to reach Europa League semis

Turin, April 11 (IANS) Juventus advanced to the semifinals of the UEFA Europa League as they beat French side Lyon 2-1 at home.

The Turin giants, who recorded a 1-0 victory in the quarterfinal first leg in France last week, secured a 3-1 aggregate victory Thursday night to progress to the last four of a European competition for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign, reports Xinhua.

Andrea Pirlo scored an exquisite free-kick to put the hosts ahead with only four minutes on the board, but the visitors levelled when Jimmy Briand placed a header beyond Gianluigi Buffon 14 minutes later.

Claudio Marchisio wrapped up the win for the Italian champions in the 68th minute when his long-range strike took a wicked deflection off Samuel Umtiti and gave goalkeeper Anthony Lopes no chance.

The victory extends Juve’s unbeaten home record to over a calendar year, with their last defeat at the Juventus stadium against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League last April.

“It wasn’t easy to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League. We started well tonight, then conceded an equaliser,” Marchisio said.

“My goal was fortunate, but now we will play the semis. Our objective is to keep going to the end in every competition.”

If Juventus reach the final, they will have the privilege of playing in their own stadium next month.