Ronaldo leads Madrid past Barca to make Copa final

BARCELONA (AP) ― Cristiano Ronaldo got the better of Lionel Messi on Tuesday, scoring twice to lead Real Madrid to a 3-1 win at Barcelona and a spot in the Copa del Rey final.

After the first leg of their semifinal ended 1-1, Madrid neutralized Barcelona’s passing game and counterattacked to perfection at the Camp Nou to hand its archrival its first home loss in any competition since last April.

It was also a second straight cup setback for the Catalan club, which is running away with the Spanish league but lost 2-0 at AC Milan in the first leg of its Champions League last-16 matchup.

While Messi had a quiet night, Ronaldo scored for a sixth straight visit to Camp Nou when he earned and converted a penalty in the 13th minute. Ronaldo hit again on the break in the 57th before Raphael Varane got his second goal of the series in the 68th.

Jordi Alba pulled a late goal back for defending champion Barcelona, but it was much too late to prevent Madrid from going through 4-2 on aggregate.

Madrid will play either Atletico Madrid or Sevilla in the cup final on May 18.

For Barcelona, it was their worst defeat to Madrid since losing 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2008.

England

LIVERPOOL (AP) ― Everton reached the quarterfinals of the FA Cup by beating Oldham 3-1 on Tuesday, ending the third-tier club’s memorable run with a routine victory at Goodison Park.

Oldham ousted Liverpool 3-2 in the previous round and then drew 2-2 with Everton at home 10 days ago.

But David Moyes’ team dominated from the start in the replay, and Kevin Mirallas opened the scoring when he converted Darron Gibson’s 15th-minute cross.

Former Everton player Jose Baxter almost pulled Oldham level through a lob that struck the post.

But Leighton Baines’ penalty made it 2-0 in the 34th after Connor Brown handled, and Leon Osman added the third in the 62nd

Germany

FRANKFURT (AP) ― Freiburg conceded two goals inside the first four minutes, battled back with a man up to level the score from a last-gasp penalty and then clinched the winner in extra time to advance to the semifinals of the German Cup for the first time with a 3-2 victory in Mainz.

In the other quarterfinal on Tuesday, Wolfsburg won 2-1 at third-division Kickers Offenbach.

On Wednesday, Bayern Munich hosts defending champion Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart plays second-division Bochum.

The game in Mainz began with the host team scoring in the second minute when Shawn Parker drilled home a ball played back by Chinedu Ede. Two minutes later, Mainz doubled the lead when Niki Zimling scored from the edge of the penalty area.

Italy

BOLOGNA (AP) ― Greece winger Lazaros Christodoulopoulos scored the winner in the 84th minute and Bologna came back from a goal down to beat visiting Fiorentina 2-1 Tuesday in the Appenine derby, which was postponed by two days due to snow.

Adem Ljajic had put Fiorentina ahead in the 27th, using an angled shot to finish off a counterattack for his third goal in two matches.

Marco Motta equalized for Bologna in the 58th by heading in a free kick from Alessandro Diamanti.

Christodoulopoulos, who joined Bologna on the final day of the January transfer window from Panathinaikos, decided the match with a shot from beyond the area after Fiorentina failed to clear.

Fiorentina remained tied for sixth with Catania, two points behind Inter Milan.

Bologna moved into a tie for 14th.