Ibra denies making racist comments against Lukaku

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has defended himself against accusations he aimed racist comments at Inter's Romelu Lukaku during the Coppa Italia quarter-final on Tuesday, saying there is no place for racism in "Zlatan's world".

Ibrahimovic and Lukaku, who played together at Manchester United, exchanged words at the end of the first half before the pair had to be restrained as the players left the pitch for the interval.

The referee cautioned the duo before giving Ibrahimovic another yellow card and a red after the restart for a foul on Aleksandar Kolarov. AC Milan went on to lose 2-1.

The BBC reported that a pitchside microphone had picked up Ibrahimovic saying "go do your voodoo" to Lukaku, an apparent reference to 2018 comments from Everton owner Farhad Moshiri that the Belgian turned down an offer to stay in Merseyside on the advice of a "voodoo message."

However, Ibrahimovic said on Twitter: "In Zlatan's world there is no place for racism.

"We are all the same race -- we are all equal. We're all players some better than others.

Sky Sports reported that the Italian Football Federation is likely to make a decision on the matter on Friday.

Juve progress to Coppa Italia semi-finals with 4-0 win over SPAL

Juventus booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia after defeating SPAL at the Allianz Stadium here on Thursday.

In the quarter-final clash, Juventus dominated SPAL to register an impressive 4-0 win.

Alvaro Morata opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 16th minute. Gianluca Frabotta doubled the lead in the 33rd minute as the first half concluded on 2-0, in Juventus' favour.

Juventus continued their stunning performance in the second half as well. Dejan Kulusevski netted a goal to extend Juventus' lead before Federico Chiesa too got onto the scoresheet, sealing the final scoreline.

With this win, Juventus set up a semi-final match against Inter Milan, who defeated AC Milan to advance in the competition.

The first leg of the semi-final between Juventus and Inter Milan will take place on February 3, with the second leg slated to be held on February 10.