Juventus booked their place in the Europa League semi-finals after a 1-1 draw against Sporting CP at Estadio Jose Alvalade to seal a 2-1 aggregate triumph.

Federico Gatti had given Juve a narrow lead in last week’s match at Allianz Stadium, but Rabiot scored early to give Juve a two-goal lead.

After Rabiot fouled Manuel Ugarte, Sporting quickly got a goal back when Marcus Edwards scored from the penalty spot, but the Bianconeri won thanks to their strong defence.

After beating Manchester United, Juve will play in a European semi-final for the first time since the 2016–17 season. They will face Sevilla for a spot in the final.

After only nine minutes, Rabiot put Juve ahead when he got to a loose ball in the box after a corner kick and smashed it into the bottom left corner.

When Rabiot brought down Ugarte in the penalty area, the referee Francois Letexier pointed to the spot. Edwards shot the ball straight down the middle as Wojciech Szczesny dove to his left.

Before halftime, Ousmane Diomande’s header just missed the goal, and Dusan Vlahovic’s header after the break just missed the goal as well. This meant that the home team almost fell further behind.

Ricardo Esgaio’s shot just missed the crossbar, which would have sent the game into extra time for Sporting, but Massimiliano Allegri’s team held on to reach the quarter-finals.

Photo by EPA/MIGUEL A. LOPES