Europe

Juventus defeated Milan 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday which, unfortunately for Italian football, isn’t really news. Juventus have won five straight Serie A titles, and, even with the higher likelihood of upsets in knockout football, they’ve managed to win the Coppa Italia two straight years.

Their hegemony of Italian football makes a neutral viewer more apt to turn to other competitions, like The Great British Bake Off. But the romance of Italian football can still be found if you know where to look. You should be looking at Carlos Bacca.

Leeds United striker Souleymane Doukara will probably win some awards for this goal, and if he does they will be deserved.

We will break down Doukara's goal using the tactical acumen and soccer insights only we here at The18 possess. Here goes:

Souleymane Doukara's goal for #LUFC last night was measured at a speed of 62mph, reaching the net in 0.8 seconds  pic.twitter.com/LHRAFroASH

Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal became a mere footnote as the Blaugrana thrashed their opposition in the return leg, 5-2.

Lionel Messi registered a goal and two assists, Luis Suarez added a goal and a fantastic assist of his own, while Denis Suarez benefited from the vision of his teammates to score two. Arda Turan was also on the scoresheet for Barcelona.

Following a blatant attack of racial abuse on Mario Balotelli during Nice’s match against Bastia last Friday, the Italian striker took to Instagram and said, “Is it normal that Bastia supporters make monkey noise [and] ‘uh uh’ for the whole game…?” Balotelli then criticized the French League’s disciplinary committee for failing to address the situation, summarizing the entire incident as “a real shame.”

Atletico Madrid fans might think French striker Antoine Griezmann is a superhero, but he hasn't had a chance to show that until now.

Griezmann, 25, will reportedly portray Superman in the French-language version of The Lego Batman Movie, due out on February 8. He announced his role in a video on his Facebook page.

2017 has just begun, and it’s already been extremely unkind to both Real Madrid and 2016 Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

The current club world champions had their historic unbeaten streak snapped by Sevilla in La Liga, cutting into their lead at the top of the table.

Last week, British magazine Coach published what they contended was an exclusive interview with Lionel Messi, in which the Barcelona star supposedly said he would like to stay at Barcelona.

It turns out they published nothing of the sort.

The "interview" has been taken down and replaced with this message:

It's unclear what Aston Villa chairman Dr. Tony Xia is a doctor of, but we think it might be math.

Xia, whose Twitter account is wildly entertaining and filled with optimistic projections for the future of his club (currently 13th in the Championship, but don't worry, Dr. Tony is on it), has been spouting off math problems in relation to the January transfer window lately.

Real Madrid ventured to Celta Vigo’s Balaidos stadium in Galicia needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit to advance to the Copa del Rey semifinals. In the end, Celta held their nerve to secure a 2-2 draw and advance 4-3 on aggregate.

The Celts earned a first half advantage when Danilo turned the ball into his own net, his second own goal in his last three appearances. A shot from John Guidetti was brilliantly saved by Kiko Casilla, but the rebound deflected off Danilo and into the net.

19-year-old Frenchman Ousmane Dembele was highly coveted by almost every club around Europe following his breakout season with Rennes in the French Ligue 1 over 2015-16. Like so many others of late, he was attracted to Borussia Dortmund’s track record in developing young players and letting them play regardless of age.