THE lawyer representing Juventus at the appeals trial in Italy’s match-fixing scandal pleaded for leniency yesterday, saying that last week’s decision by a sports tribunal to relegate the club to the second division with a 30-point penalty would have “devastating consequences”.

BULGARIA’S new coach Hristo Stoichkov has recalled defender Radostin Kishishev for their friendly against Ireland on August 18 at Lansdowne Road.

Todor Yanchev and Martin Kamburov were the notable absentees when Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov named his squad for Euro 2004 today.

BARCELONA progressed to the fourth round of the UEFA Cup following a 2-1 (3-1 on aggregate) win over Brondby last night.

GERARD HOULLIER, stricken by flu after a week of high pressure, turned his assistant Phil Thompson on Liverpool’s detractors last night.

The draw for the third round of the UEFA Cup is:

Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich will find out later today if he is going home in the Champions League.

The shadow of Besiktas is hanging over the three British seeds – Liverpool, Newcastle and Celtic – ahead of the UEFA Cup draw tomorrow.

Barcelona all but sealed their passage past Panionios in the UEFA Cup after a 3-0 second round first leg win in Greece.

The draw for The UEFA Cup First Round is as follows: