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The Italian Cup quarter-finals featured six out of eight second-leg matches, during which a total of 31 goals were scored, and all the favorites who won their matches secured tickets to the next stage.
After a goalless draw in the first leg between "Palermo" and "Bari", not many were expecting an exciting match in the second leg, but spectators at the "Barbera" stadium witnessed a true downpour of goals - the hosts managed to twice equalize their deficit to the visitors, but after an hour of play, they scored three goals in six minutes and took a comfortable lead.
However, "Palermo's" convincing lead lasted only a couple of minutes, as "Bari" soon also scored two quick goals and reduced the gap to one. But "Palermo" managed to hold on for the remaining 20 minutes of the match and advanced to the next stage.
The country's champions, Turin's "Juventus", had an easier time, with a three-goal lead thanks to two goals from Alessandro Del Piero and one from Adriano Mutu in the 21st minute against the "Fiorentina" team. In the second half, A. Del Piero's penalty shot from 11 meters secured his hat-trick, and V. Bojinov scored a consolation goal for the visitors.
Meanwhile, for "Juventus" captain A. Del Piero, these matches will be remembered not only for helping his team defeat their opponents and eliminate them from the cup with his three goals but also for becoming the club's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Giampiero Boniperti's record of 182 goals in his career.
"Milan" club achieved a dramatic victory for the second time in a row after defeating "Brescia" with a score of 4-3 in their away match. The visitors, with goals from Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi, further increased their lead from the first leg. And though Simone Del Nero scored a goal in response, Rui Costa restored the advantage at the start of the second half with a great finish.
Despite that, "Brescia" continued to fight, and in the 61st minute, Luigi Di Biagio converted a penalty kick after the goalkeeper's error against Marius Stankevicius, and in the 72nd minute, Marek Hamsik equalized the score. Yet, in the final moments of the match, the visitors thanks to C. Seedorf's penalty shot clinched the victory, which had no effect on the overall result - "Milan" advanced to the quarter-finals.
Genoa's "Sampdoria" snatched a dramatic victory by defeating "Cagliari" in the fifth minute of added time at their home stadium. The hosts led in the aggregate score, scoring through Francesco Flachi in the 78th minute, but at the end of the match, the visitors equalized after M. Gobbi's goal. However, "Sampdoria" refused to play extra time and in the final moments, the same F. Flachi scored again, securing their ticket to the next stage.
"Udinese" also had a tough second leg match, as they had a one-goal deficit after the first leg against "Atalanta" from Bergamo. Stefano Mauri equalized that deficit in the 17th minute, but with 20 minutes remaining, Luca Ariatti scored for the visitors. The hosts now needed two goals, which turned out not to be a difficult task - Mirko Pieri and Antonio Di Natale secured the win and a place in the next stage for the "Udinese" team.
Less drama was seen in the match between "Roma" and "Napoli," as the capital club had won the first match 3-0. In the second leg, played without spectators due to incidents in previous matches, "Roma" also claimed victory 2-1 and advanced comfortably.
Although the two second-leg matches will be played on Thursday, in those pairs, unless there are major surprises, "Lazio" and "Inter" from Milan should defeat their opponents and face each other in the quarter-finals. "Juventus" will face "Roma", "Milan" will play against "Palermo", and "Sampdoria" and "Udinese" will compete against each other.
Italian Cup quarter-finals results:
5 - 4 "Bari" (First leg 0-0, aggregate 5-4) 7' [1 - 0] Mariano Nicolas Gonzalez 19' [1 - 1] Daniele Vantaggiato (pen.) 45' [2 - 1] Eugenio Corini (pen.) 54' [2 - 2] Biagio Pagano 60' [3 - 2] Paul Constantin Codrea 63' [4 - 2] Christian Terlizzi 66' [5 - 2] Mariano Nicolas Gonzalez 68' [5 - 3] Vincenzo Santoruvo 70' [5 - 4] Luigi Anaclerio
4 - 1 (2-2, 6-3) 9' [1 - 0] Alessandro Del Piero 17' [2 - 0] Alessandro Del Piero 21' [3 - 0] Adrian Mutu 57' [4 - 0] Alessandro Del Piero (pen.) 64' [4 - 1] Valeri Bojinov
2 - 1 (3-0, 5-1) 39' [1 - 0] Alberto Aquilani 45' [2 - 0] Alessandro Mancini 90+2' [2 - 1] Nicolas Amodio
3 - 1 (0-1, 3-2) 17' [1 - 0] Stefano Mauri 70' [1 - 1] Luca Ariatti 79' [2 - 1] Mirko Pieri 82' [3 - 1] Antonio Di Natale (pen.)
2 - 1 (1-1, 3-2) 78' [1 - 0] Francesco Flachi 90+2' [1 - 1] Massimo Gobbi 90+5' [2 - 1] Francesco Flachi
3 - 4 (1-3, 4-7) 16' [0 - 1] Clarence Seedorf 31' [0 - 2] Filippo Inzaghi 38' [1 - 2] Simone Del Nero 48' [1 - 3] Rui Costa 61' [2 - 3] Luigi Di Biagio (pen.) 72' [3 - 3] Marek Hamsik 89' [3 - 4] Rui Costa (pen.)
Italian Cup quarter-final matchups: "Juventus" - "Roma" "Udinese" - "Sampdoria" "Lazio"/"Cittadella" - "Inter"/"Parma" "Milan" - "Palermo"
