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Melbourne Victory have signed Spanish defender Ubay Luzardo, pending the arrival of his international transfer certificate.

The signing comes on the back of new deals for captain Adrian Leijer, Matthew Foschini and Petar Franjic, with the former duo extending their contracts until the end of the 2013-14 campaign and the latter penning a new one-year deal.

Luzardo, 28, had been on trial at Victory for two weeks, and joins on loan from Hong Kong outfit Kitchee SC until the end of the A-League season.

The Las Palmas product had been in Hong Kong since July 2009, making 44 appearances and scoring 10 goals.

He had reportedly caught the eye of Victory coach Jim Magilton during Kitchee’s friendly with English Premier League club Chelsea in July, and is the second defensive signing for the A-League club – after fringe Australia international Mark Milligan – this transfer window.

“Ubay is a big, strong boy, who moves well for a player of his size,” Magilton said.

“He’s done everything right in his short time with the club and will provide more stability to our defence and also give us some flexibility with the personnel we currently have.”

Of the three defensive players to re-sign, Magilton said: “These three boys have all represented Australia in different age groups and it was important that we kept them at our club.”

“Adrian has proven himself to be one of the most reliable defenders in the league and, at just 25, is still relatively young for a centre-half and will only continue to improve.”

“Matthew has established himself as a first team regular this season and Petar has done very well when given an opportunity, so I believe both youngsters have bright futures at this club.”

Velez Sarsfield made a great start in Copa Libertadores Group 7 on Tuesday, cruising to a 3-0 away win over Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting.

In an even contest, neither goalkeeper was truly tested until the 42nd minute when Yonatan Irrazabal picked up Andres Fleurquin’s back pass and Sebastian Dominguez stepped up to take the resultant indirect free kick from just inside the box.

His effort was only partially cleared away and when Emiliano Papa’s cross found David Ramirez, he fired low and squeezed the ball in at the near post.

Ricardo Gareca’s men sealed the win in the 81st minute when Fernando Ortiz headed the ball towards goal from a corner and Mauro Obolo was on hand to lash home a debut goal from close range.

Centre-back Dominguez then hit a stunning free kick moments later that secured a comfortable win for the visitors.

Elsewhere in Group 7, Ecuadorian club Deportivo Quito played out a 1-1 draw with Guadalajara in Mexico.

Deportivo took the lead after just eight minutes through Matias Alustiza, but the hosts hit back in the 93rd minute of the match with a goal from winger Omar Arellano.

And in Group 4, Brazilians Fluminense enjoyed a 1-0 home win over Argentine side Arsenal to kick off their campaign with a victory.

Striker Fred scored the decisive goal after just three minutes at the Estadio Olimpico Joao Havelange in a spiteful affair that saw the hosts finish the match with nine men.

Wagner and Nicolas Aguirre were both dismissed after a brawl in the 75th minute, the former kicking an Arsenal player before the latter defended his team-mate with a shove to the Flu player.

Leandro Euzebio also saw red for a kick in stoppage time but Flu secured the three points.

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri has taken a swipe at Juventus general director Beppe Marotta for criticising referees.

Marotta launched a withering attack o referees after his side were denied a penalty in the closing stages of their 0-0 draw at home to Siena on Sunday.

But ahead of Wednesday’s Coppa Italia clash between Milan and Juve at the San Siro, Allegri said Marotta’s comments were out of line.

“People always say they want to help the referees but then after the first mistake that goes against them, they attack (the referees),” Allegri said.

“In one season there will always be decisions for and against, but at the end they even themselves out.”

“To reduce to a game to a penalty incident is wrong; we should all be more calm.”

“Marotta’s words? I do not know what they are borne out of; myself and Milan have a different style.”

Addressing Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s dismissal against Napoli on Sunday for slapping Salvatore Aronica in the face, Allegri conceded that the Sweden international had been clearly in the wrong but said the incident has been blown out of proportion.

“What happened on Sunday was certainly not a nice gesture,” Allegri said. “But you see things like this every Sunday. He paid a little for everyone.”

Meanwhile, Allegri revealed that while January signing Maxi Lopez will feature at some point against Juve, the former Catania forward will not start.

The 44-year-old coach also said that injured duo Alexandre Pato and Kevin-Prince Boateng are now just over a week away from returning to first-team duty, but was not yet certain when Alberto Aquilani would be ready to make his comeback.

Athletic Bilbao is into the final of the Copa del Rey after thrashing Mirandes 6-2 in their semi-final second leg on Tuesday.

The four-goal win completed an 8-3 aggregate victory over third-tier club Mirandes, with Bilbao set to face either Valencia or Barcelona in the final.

Bilbao cruised to a 3-0 lead within the first 22 minutes with goals from Iker Muniain, Markel Susaeta and Jon Aurtenetxe and held that lead until the half-time break.

Aurtenetxe’s goal was the pick of the bunch after neat interplay by the home side culminated in a terrific cross from the right by Susaeta that landed perfectly onto the head of the incoming defender, who guided the ball into the goal.

Mirandes lead Spain’s Segunda B and made more of an impression in the second half at Bilbao’s Estadio San Mames.

Aitor Blanco got a goal back for the visitors just before the hour, when the defender poked a rebound into the roof of the net after the ball had struck the post.

But any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were cut short when the home side’s towering striker Fernando Llorente scored twice in four minutes.

The first, in the 71st minute, was an exquisite chip from the in-form striker after being put through one-on-one with Mirandes’ goalkeeper Cecilio Nauzet.

Llorente then put the game beyond doubt, diving in to convert a cross with the outside of his boot.

There was still time for another scrappy Blanco goal, an unlucky own goal by Mirandes’ Cesar Caneda, who diverted a cross past his keeper to make the final score 6-2.

The result means that the Basque club still has a chance to win the Copa Del Rey for the first time in 30 years.

Juventus coach Antonio Conte says he will field his three most recent signings in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final with AC Milan.

Marco Borriello, Simone Padoin and Martin Caceres all arrived in Turin last month and Conte believes the trio warrant the opportunity to prove their worth at the San Siro in the away leg.

“The three players who arrived in the transfer market need to play and must give us important responses just like all the others,” Conte told Juve’s official website.

“They’ve been brought in to bolster the squad and not just as alternatives, but valid options from every point of view.”

Conte also revealed Marco Storari will take over from first-choice goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon between the posts.

“The Coppa Italia is Storari’s competition, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “I’d like to praise his professionalism.”

“He’s a great goalkeeper, he wants to play, but he’s making a great contribution both when he’s required to play and off the field.”

While Conte is resting some first-team regulars for the game in Milan, he insists his side have every chance of bringing a lead back to Juventus Stadium.

“The game needs to be approached in the right way,” he said. “I think both ourselves and Milan want to get through and reach the final, so we’ll look to give everything we’ve got over the two legs to get there.”

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s the first leg of a semi-final regardless of the opposition we’ll face.”

“It’s inevitable that I would have preferred to play a weaker opponent and have a greater chance of going through.”

“Instead, I’d say that both sides have an equal possibility of progressing in the competition.”

Juventus lead the Serie A by a solitary point from Milan and will face their title rival again in the league at San Siro later this month.

Birmingham City’s charge towards the top of the English Championship continued on Tuesday with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portsmouth.

Teenage substitute Nathan Redmond scored the late winner with a superb volley from Curtis Davies’ knock down, earning the home side a well-deserved win, their fifth in six matches.

Birmingham had 15 shots to Portsmouth’s 10 and, most importantly, were on target with four of those shots compared to just one from the visitors.

The three points took Birmingham into third on the Championship table at the expense of Cardiff City, who lost to Blackpool on Sunday.

Despite having the only remaining unbeaten home record in the Championship this season, Birmingham struggled to take control in the first half and it was not until the introduction of Redmond for Marlon King after 61 minutes that they exerted some serious pressure.

Both Adam Rooney and Jordan Mutch had big chances to win the game for Birmingham, but Portsmouth held on until the 86th minute, with goalkeeper Stephen Henderson particularly impressive for the South Coast club.

Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton would have happily taken a point after three defeats in the last four, but it was not to be thanks to England U18 international Redmond’s second goal of the season.

Millwall substitute Liam Feeney scored in second-half stoppage time to knock Southampton out of the FA Cup in a shock result.

Millwall are 19 places and 23 points behind second-placed Southampton in the English Championship, but still managed to come from 2-1 down with just 13 minutes to go to win 3-2.

Kenny Jackett’s side played five in midfield and took advantage of the extra man to dominate the early stages of the match and made that count in the 17th minute when Liam Trotter finished off a nice move.

But it was 1-1 at the break after Southampton midfielder Adam Lallana scored in the 35th minute.

Southampton headed into the FA Cup fourth-round replay without a win in five games and the home side went for it in the second half, especially after the introduction of Ricki Lambert from the bench.

Lambert had seemingly booked Southampton a fifth-round tie against Bolton Wanderers when he scored in the 77th minute, but goals to Danny N’Guessan and a wonder strike in injury time from Feeney sent the visitors through instead.

In the other FA Cup fourth-round replay, Lomana Tresor Lua Lua and Ludovic Sylvestre both scored stunners in Blackpool’s 3-0 win away to Sheffield Wednesday.

Matt Phillips gave the visitors the lead in just the seventh minute when he collected Lua Lua’s blocked shot and placed the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Eight minutes later, Lua Lua sent the visiting Blackpool fans crazy with a brilliant goal.

The 31-year-old broke from halfway and sprinted down the left hand side before cutting inside at the edge of the box and curling his shot into the far top corner.

Sylvestre did his best to copy his teammate in the 54th minute.

The French midfielder was released by Phillips’ back heel and from a very similar position to Lua Lua and with very similar technique, curled the ball past Wednesday’s goalkeeper Stephen Bywater into the top corner.

The win means Blackpool will take on Everton in the fifth round of the competition.

Dunfermline remain rooted to the bottom of the Scottish Premier League table following their 1-1 home draw with Kilmarnock on Tuesday.

James Fowler gave the visitors the lead after 21 minutes only for Andy Kirk to equalise for Dunfermline, but the hosts were lucky to escape with a point after Kilmarnock dominated the second period without finding a way to goal.

Dunfermline had won just once in 11 league starts heading into the match at East End Park, and got off to the worst possible start when Fowler’s collected Lewis Toshney’s cross in the middle of the area and fired a deflected shot past goalkeeper Chris Smith.

Kilmarnock’s advantage lasted until one minute before the break, when Kirk sprung the offside trap and raced away to beat Cameron Bell and level the match.

The visitors bossed possession in the second half but could not make the most of numerous scoring chances, while Kirk missed an opportunity to snatch all three points for Dunfermline, who remain bottom of the table with 18 points.

The draw lifts Kilmarnock above Dundee United into seventh on the table.

Borussia Dortmund has recorded a comfortable victory in the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal on Tuesday, beating Holstein Kiel 4-0.

Two goals in each half earned the Bundesliga leaders a semi-final berth, in a match where Kiel rarely threatened Australian youngster Mitchell Langerak in Dortmund’s goal.

Robert Lewandowski got Dortmund going in just the 11th minute, while goals from Shinji Kagawa, Lucas Barrios and Ivan Perisic rounded out the win.

Lewandowski’s opening goal illustrated the Poland international’s finely-tuned striker’s instincts when he timed his run perfectly at the back post to tap in a mishit overhead kick from Perisic.

It was Lewandowski’s 19th goal of the season in all competitions for the reigning Bundesliga champions.

Just seven minutes later it was 2-0 at Holstein-Stadion when Lukas Piszczek’s cut back was fired home from the top of the box by Kagawa to finish off a flowing move by the visitors.

Dortmund manager Juergen Klopp selected close to his best side for the match in the far north of Germany and his players were clearly too good for Kiel, who are currently second in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nord.

But despite that the home side managed to hold the score at 2-0 for most of a rather dull second half until substitute striker Lucas Barrios bundled the ball home at the back post in the 80th minute, with Perisic providing the cross.

The 23-year-old Croatian got himself on the scoresheet in the 87th minute, when he scored from an indirect free kick inside Kiel’s defensive penalty area after the home side’s goalkeeper Morten Jensen surprisingly picked up a back pass from Christian Jurgensen.

Perisic placed the ball past Jensen and a seven-man wall to complete the four-goal victory, making it three wins from three for Dortmund since the end of Germany’s winter break.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli insists Antonio Di Natale and Francesco Totti will be considered for selection for Euro 2012.

Di Natale and Totti both remain key figures at their respective clubs, Udinese and Roma, and there have been mounting calls for both players to be recalled to the national team set-up.

Prandelli has already intimated that Di Natale will be given his chance to impress in the run-up to Euro 2012, and insists Totti is more than welcome to reverse his decision to retire from international football.

The former Fiorentina coach told Sky Sport24: “The door is open to all.”

Italy are currently short on quality up front, with Giuseppe Rossi currently out of action with a knee injury and Antonio Cassano still recovering from a heart operation back in November.

However, Prandelli is optimistic that both strikers will be present in Poland and Ukraine.

“Giuseppe Rossi is recovering and I hope to have both him and Antonio Cassano for the European Championships,” Prandelli said.

Italy have been drawn in the same group as reigning world and European champions Spain, the Republic of Ireland and Croatia.