A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Wednesday:
ENGLAND
Manchester United can climb into second place in the Premier League — for a day, at least — by beating Crystal Palace away for a 10th straight win in all competitions. Confidence is high after a 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Saturday and now United can go above City — which plays Tottenham on Thursday — and Newcastle in the standings, and move six points behind Arsenal. United plays Arsenal on Sunday. Palace has lost five of its last six games. In the FA Cup, Leeds hosts second-tier Cardiff in the final third-round replay.
SPAIN
Atlético Madrid tries to put its Spanish league woes behind when it plays at second-division club Levante in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. Diego Simeone’s team is coming off a 1-1 draw at Almería and a 1-0 home loss to Barcelona in its last two league matches. The Copa is the only title Atlético can realistically still fight for this season. It trails league leader Barcelona by 13 points. Levante eliminated first-division Getafe in the previous round of the Copa del Rey. In other Copa matches, Valencia visits Sporting Gijón, Athletic Bilbao hosts Espanyol and Osasuna is at defending champion Real Betis.
ITALY
Defending Serie A champion AC Milan faces city rival Inter Milan in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, less than three weeks before they meet in the league. Milan has had a poor start since Serie A resumed this month following a 7 1/2-week break for the World Cup and has dropped nine points behind league leader Napoli. Inter and Juventus are just a point further back. The Nerazzurri have started the year much better than Milan and World Cup winner Lautaro Martínez has scored in his past three matches. Milan has lifted the trophy seven times, one more than Inter, and beat the Nerazzurri in the 2011 edition.
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