SEVILLE, Spain -- Stephane Mbia and Carlos Bacca scored within four minutes of each other as Sevilla beat Valencia 2-0 in the first leg of an all-Spanish Europa League semifinal on Thursday. With his back to goal, Mbia backheeled Ivan Rakitics bouncing free kick over goalkeeper Victor Guaita for the opener after 33 minutes. Mbia appeared to score after receiving in an offside position. Guaita could do little moments later as Bacca raced free into the area to fire a low shot past the outstretched Valencia goalie to put the Andalucian club in command and on the verge of its first final since winning the second of consecutive UEFA Cups in 2007. Sevilla keeper Beto denied late Valencia substitute Jonas from point-blank in the 87th to preserve the advantage, then Eduardo Vargas headed off the crossbar as Valencia nearly scored a valuable away goal. "We played a good game against a great rival," Bacca said. "Despite the result, it wont be easy in the return." Valencia must rebound in one week at its Mestalla Stadium with a place in the May 14 final at Juventus Stadium in Turin at stake. Benfica won 2-1 at home to Juventus in the other semifinal. Valencia was fortunate to only be two goals down after the first leg after it failed to produce any concrete opportunities while relying on Guaita for important stops. Valencia doesnt have to look far back for inspiration after overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Basel to reach the last four. "Im happy with the team and the effort they made," said Valencia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, whose club is looking to return to its first final since winning in 2004. "I dont think the result reflects the effort we made tonight." The visitors started brightly with Joao Perreira testing Beto with a swerving shot from outside the area, but the hosts took control after that through Rakitic. The Croatia midfielders free kick was headed on to the far post where Mbia, who appeared to be offside, got turned around trying to reach it as it bounced through his legs before recovering for the athletic score. Valencia looked demoralized right after Victor Perez combined with Bacca to play the Colombian through to create a two-goal cushion. "One of the most important things is that we didnt concede," Bacca said. "We could have had a third, but them too." Bacca was dangerous throughout, forcing Guaita to save his header and a solo effort set up by Rakitic in the 56th, either side of Guaitas save on Federico Fazios header. Sevilla midfielder Vicente Iborra headed over goal in stoppage time after Valencias final flurry of chances. "Were strong at home and we can come back from this," said Valencia forward Pablo Alcacer, who will miss the return after being booked for trying to avoid contact with Beto, who stuck his leg out at the Valencia midfielder in the closing moments. 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Seeking their third straight Davis Cup title, the Czechs will rely again on veteran Radek Stepanek.Brisbane, Australia - U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori and former Brisbane finalist Grigor Dimitrov were among Wednesdays second- round winners at the Brisbane International tennis event. The second-seeded Japanese star Nishikori got past American two-time NCAA singles champ Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-5. New year is starting, and obviously Im playing much better these couple years, said Nishikori, who finished 2014 at a career-high No. 5 with 54 match wins. I have more confidence and I beat a lot of Top-10 guys [these past] two, three years. If I can play good tennis all the time, I think I have a lot of chance to go [to the] top level. Hopefully this is going to be a good start. Meanwhile, the rising Bulgarian and 2013 Brisbane finalist Dimitrov saved two match points before coming from behind to beat Frances Jeremy Chardy 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) onn the hardcourts at Queensland Tennis Centre.dddddddddddd. An upset came when capable Slovak Martin Klizan saved six match points before taking out seventh-seeded 2012 Brisbane runner-up Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (9-7). Klizan will face Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. One other result saw Bernard Tomic handle wild card and fellow Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-6 (7-2), 6-1. Tomic will battle Nishikori on Friday. In some more second-round action on Thursday, top-seeded Roger Federer will meet Aussie wild card John Millman and third-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic will take on Kazakhstans Mikhail Kukushkin. Federer lost to Aussie favorite Lleyton Hewitt in last years all-former-No. 1 Brisbane final. Brisbane serves as a tune-up for the Australian Open, which will begin January 19 in Melbourne. 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