Levante 0-3 Valencia (1-7 Agg): Aduriz and Piatti double clinch straightforward win and book Copa del Rey semifinal meeting with Barcelona

Valencia cruised into the semifinals of the Copa del Rey on Thursday with a dominant 3-0 victory over Levante in its quarterfinal second leg at Ciutat de Valencia, winning the tie 7-1 on aggregate.

Goals by Aritz Aduriz and Pablo Piatti in the first half virtually put the result out of reach, before the Argentina scored five minutes from time, setting up a date with Barcelona in the last four.

Needing a big victory to advance, the home side could do little against Los Che, despite having a few decent chances. The visitors used a starting eleven with only three regular starters, resting the majority of their stars but made quick work of their neighbors, using tons of space on the wings and quality forward passes to terrorize in attack.

However, in the early going, it appeared as if Levante had taken the lead with Vicente Iborra's headed effort off a corner 17 minutes in, but his touch beat Diego Alves, while also beating the goal.

With most of the possession, Valencia was able to go on the counterattack several times and made their rivals pay twice in five minutes.

Piatti was awarded for his quality assist with a goal of his own shortly after, as Juan Bernat sent the Argentine through on the right. The midfielder raced towards goal diagonally before finishing calmly into the left side of the goal to double up the score.

The rest of the first half passed with few chances as Valencia went into the break with the result all but secured.

In the second half, things did not improve for Levante, as desperate long-range shots and poor precision plagued any hope at a comeback. More damage was done 20 minutes to go as Oscar Serrano was shown his second yellow card.

The Europa League contenders made it 3-0 when Piatti sent in a cross from the left in the 85th minute, which Aduriz headed on goal, but it was saved by Gustavo Munua, who could not hold onto it. Piatti ran from the wing and finished into the right side for his second strike as his side cemented their spot in the next round.

With the victory, Valencia advances to the semifinals, where it will host Barcelona next Wednesday, with the second leg the following week.

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