MADRID — Holder Atletico Madrid set up a mouthwatering Copa del Rey semifinal with city rival Real Madrid after beating Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Wednesday to win 3-1 on aggregate. Barcelona also assured its place in the last four with a 5-1 victory over Levante at the Camp Nou to seal a 9-2 rout on aggregate. In Bilbao, Aritz Aduriz had powered the host into a deserved lead four minutes before half-time and Athletic was only denied a bigger advantage at the break by two outstanding saves from Thibaut Courtois. However, Atletico regrouped at the break and leveled 10 minutes after the restart when Raul Garcia smashed home Emiliano Insua's cross. Diego Costa sealed its passage into the last four in the final stages as he slotted home his first goal of 2014 on the counter-attack to inflict Athletic Bilbao's first ever defeat at its San Mames ground, which it has used since the start of the season. Atletico will travel to the Santiago Bernabeu, where it beat Real 2-1 in last year's final, for the first leg of the semifinal next week with the return to come at the Vicente Calderon the following week. “In the first 30 minutes we were in control of the tie, if not the match,” said Atletico boss Diego Simeone. “From then until half-time they had a great end to the half, but we came out strong in the second-half and got the goal which gave us confidence and strength.” Simeone's men will now face Real three times in little over three weeks in league and Cup. However, it is unbeaten in four meetings against Madrid and Barcelona this season and the Argentine feels his side now believe it can compete with Spain's big two. Barcelona's passage into the semifinals was far smoother as it thrashed Levante at a sodden and sparsely populated Camp Nou. Sergi Roberto's early own goal had given the visitors some hope of an improbable comeback from last week's 4-1 defeat. However, that was quickly extinguished as Adriano's long-range strike and Carles Puyol's thumping header gave Barca the lead on the night before half-time. Two goals in quick succession after the break from close range by Alexis Sanchez extended the host's lead. Cesc Fabregas rounded off the scoring as his low effort beat Javi Jimenez at his near post 21 minutes from time. Napoli in Cup last 4 Gonzalo Higuain scored in the 82nd minute as Napoli edged defending champion Lazio 1-0 Wednesday to advance to an Italian Cup semifinal against Roma. It seemed that the match was headed to extra time when Higuain redirected in a shot from Jose Callejon by the edge of the box. Napoli also came close when a free kick from Jorginho hit the post in the 42nd. Lazio, which was without injured center forward Miroslav Klose, rarely threatened. Udinese will face Fiorentina in the other semifinal, with the two-leg series scheduled for Feb. 4-5 and 11-12. The final is slated for May 3. Bayern remains unbeaten Thiago Alcantara's sensational flying volley in stoppage-time earned Bayern Munich a 2-1 win at VfB Stuttgart Wednesday, extending its unbeaten run to 43 league games and increasing its Bundesliga lead to 13 points. The Spaniard completed what had looked like an unlikely Bayern comeback, thundering in his volley in full flight seconds from the end to lift his side to 50 points. — Agencies
