AC Milan were held 1-1 at Sampdoria on Saturday as the Serie A leaders failed to prove they can prosper even when Zlatan Ibrahimovic does not score.
Benzema to stand trial in sex tape case, says lawyer.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi refused to accept he had omitted more talented players from his squad after the uninventive world champions were held to a surprise 1-1 draw with New Zealand on Sunday.
Napoli recovered from three goals down to draw 3-3 at Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League on Thursday as holders Atletico Madrid were held 1-1 by Bayer Leverkusen.
Manchester City's defence has been particularly charitable in the run-up to Christmas and new manager Roberto Mancini's first task will be to inject some Scrooge-like meanness. Italian coaches are renowned for their devotion to miserly defending and the former Sampdoria striker will not tolerate donations to Stoke City on Boxing Day as he begins his reign at the world's richest club.
For so long seen as the bad boy of Italian soccer, Antonio Cassano came of age in Italy's opening Euro 2012 qualifying win over Estonia and he will again be their focal point for Tuesday's game with the Faroe Islands.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Sevilla, who reached the last 16 of the Champions League last season, were handed a shock playoff defeat by unfashionable Braga on Tuesday while Werder Bremen pulled off a spectacular escape act to oust Sampdoria.
Hoffenheim fought back from an early goal down to strike four times in 23 minutes and crush Werder Bremen 4-1 on Saturday, in an impressive show of attacking football at the start of the season.
Werder Bremen have agreed to sign versatile midfielder Wesley from Brazilian club Santos on a four- year deal, the Bundesliga club said on Saturday.
As Leicester City celebrates its unexpected title triumph, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com lists similar success stories across Europe's top leagues.
Francesco Totti scored a late penalty in AS Roma's 2-1 win over Cagliari to deny Inter Milan the chance to win the Serie A title with a game to spare on Sunday.
The Portuguese forward then fired in the penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
AC Milan were handed a comfortable UEFA Cup assignment on Tuesday after being drawn with Heerenveen, Braga, Portsmouth and Wolfsburg in the group stage.
Inter Milan climbed back to the top of Serie A with a 3-1 home win over Atalanta on Saturday after Jose Mourinho's gamble with their title hopes paid off.
AS Roma striker Francesco Totti will be aiming for another hat-trick at Atalanta on Sunday as speculation mounts about an Italy comeback, something Sampdoria's Antonio Cassano can only dream of.
The victory moved second-placed Bayern, who take on Celtic in the Champions League next week, up to 17 points, two behind Dortmund who suffered their first home loss in 41 league matches.
Juventus crushed visiting Sampdoria 5-1 on Wednesday to leapfrog the Genoa side into second place in Serie A but AC Milan's revival stalled when last-gasp goals earned Napoli a 2-2 draw.
Chelsea will look extremely familiar to Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho for more reasons than one when the pair meet at the San Siro on Wednesday in their Champions League last 16 first-leg clash. Mourinho won two Premier League titles as manager of the London club while the two sides are very similar in style.
Inter Milan had both centre backs sent off in the first half but the ultra-tough Serie A leaders still battled to a 0-0 home draw with Sampdoria on Saturday.
Claudio Marchisio blew open the Serie A title race when his superb goal gave 10-man Juventus a 2-1 win over leaders Inter Milan in an enthralling game on Saturday.
Leaders Inter Milan moved four points clear in Serie A after a remarkable 5-3 win over Palermo on Thursday when the champions went 4-0 up by halftime before almost throwing victory away.
Lazio beat Sampdoria 6-5 on penalties to lift the Italian Cup after Wednesday's final at the Stadio Olimpico finished 1-1 following extra-time.
Carlo Ancelotti must steer AC Milan into the Champions League to ensure he is still their coach next season, chief executive Adriano Galliani said on Tuesday.
Juventus added a touch of controversy to their Serie A title celebrations on Saturday by suggesting it was the 33rd, not the 31st, time they had won the league.
The rapid outbreak of coronavirus pandemic across Italy has been linked to the UEFA Champions League match between Italian club Atalanta and Spain's Valencia at the San Siro stadium in Milan on Feburary 19. The first cases of the virus were reported in northern Italy in the week that Atalanta enjoyed one of the finest nights in their history, beating visitors Valencia 4-1 in the Champions League last-16, first-leg match.
Lionel Messi was at the top of his game as Barcelona earned a 3-2 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to move up to third in La Liga.
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Andrea Barzagli have extended their contracts with the Italian champions until 2018, they said on Wednesday. Italy captain Buffon, 38, and international team mate Barzagli, 35, have helped Juve win five straight Serie A titles, having made 35 and 30 appearances respectively this season. "I hope that my fantastic story with this club will go on and bring even further success," Buffon told a news conference. "I'm immensely proud in the faith Juventus have placed in me once more." Barzagli added: "Even at this age, I still have room to improve and this is the best place for me to do so."
Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat-trick to help AC Milan strengthen their grip on third spot in Serie A with a 3-0 home win over Atalanta on Sunday.
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AS Roma moved clear at the top of Serie A after beating Sampdoria 2-0 on Wednesday as struggling AC Milan came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 in stoppage time at Bologna.
A controversial Adriano goal helped Serie A leaders Inter Milan to a 2-1 victory over AC Milan on Sunday which all but ended the Rossoneri's title hopes.
David Beckham enhanced his growing reputation in Serie A by scoring his first goal for AC Milan while the unflappable Kaka netted twice in a 4-1 win at 10-man Bologna on Sunday. The on-loan England midfielder finished off a neat move to complete the scoring and leave third-placed Milan six points behind leaders Inter Milan, who beat Sampdoria 1-0 at home in the late game.
Brazilian Julio Baptista struck twice to give AS Roma a 2-0 win over Sampdoria in their rearranged Serie A game on Wednesday.
The Italian federation (FIGC) is determined to complete the season and its president Gabriele Gravina has been presenting new ideas on an almost daily basis of how that can be done. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan in Central Asia is set to resume its soccer season with spectators at the weekend, making it only the second country in the world to let fans attend matches as the new coronavirus shuts down almost all of world football.
Giacomo Bonaventura's free kick earned Milan a 1-0 win over Pescara to move them into the top three of Serie A on Sunday.
Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero and Sampdoria forward Antonio Cassano have been included in Italy's provisional 24-man squad for Euro 2008, coach Roberto Donadoni said on Tuesday. Del Piero, 33, has not played for the world champions in eight months but was expected to be included after finishing as Serie A's top scorer for the first time with 21 goals this term.
Holders AS Roma will meet Inter Milan in the Italian Cup final for the fourth consecutive season after drawing 1-1 at Catania on Thursday to progress 2-1 on aggregate. Serie A leaders Inter and second-placed Roma are assured of a Champions League place next season so Italy's third UEFA Cup spot will now go to the seventh-placed team in the league.
A dominant AC Milan beat Serie A leaders Inter Milan 2-1 on Sunday to blow open the title race with second-placed AS Roma winning 3-0 at Sampdoria.
Domenico Di Carlo has been sacked as coach of Parma, the Serie A strugglers said on Monday.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique believes his current squad is the strongest he has ever had and he is very confident of retaining the La Liga and King's Cup titles. The Spanish champions have recruited Andre Gomes, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne and Denis Suarez since the end of last season while Marc Bartra, Thomas Vermaelen, Adriano Correia and Sandro Ramirez have departed. "On paper, this is the best squad that I have had in my three years at Barca," Luis Enrique told the club's website. "We have a squad that has been strengthened brilliantly.
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