Former Fiorentina coach Delio Rossi has been banned for three months by the Italian football league after he attacked midfielder Adem Ljajic during yesterday’s 2-2 draw against Novara.

Barcelona ensured the La Liga title race will go on another week after a crushing 7-0 win at Rayo Vallecano last night.

Andrea Stramaccioni was overjoyed with his debut win as Inter Milan coach after his side edged Genoa 5-4 at San Siro yesterday.

Marseille coach Didier Deschamps is not taking any comfort from the domestic struggles of Inter Milan ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash at the Stade Velodrome.

Italy

LIONEL MESSI scored his fifth hat-trick of the season as Barcelona posted a comfortable win at Malaga.

IT may have been seniors week inthe Premier League, but you canforget about Thierry Henry and Paul Scholes for the veteran of the year award.

BARCELONA defender Gerard Pique has hailed team-mate Lionel Messi as the finest player in the world as the Argentinian waits to discover if he has won the FIFA Ballon d’Or award for 2011 today.

‘JESUS seeks fourth victory over dragon’ is one of those headlines which most journalists can only dream of — except in Portugal, where the dragon is the symbol of Porto and Jorge Jesus is manager of Benfica.

INTER MILAN president Massimo Moratti believes Claudio Ranieri’s “common sense” approach is just what is needed to turn around the club’s dreadful start to the season.

Claudio Ranieri is expected to be confirmed as the new coach of Inter Milan this morning and has already vowed to “wake up the team”.

Inter Milan have dismissed coach Gian Piero Gasperini after a poor start to the new season.

Gian Piero Gasperini is on the brink of being sacked as coach of Inter Milan just five matches into his reign.

MUCH like love and marriage, Italian football and match-fixing seem to go together like a horse and carriage.

Corporate finance consultant Orla O'Gorman has been appointed as mentor to Novara.ie under the Enterprise Ireland Mentor Programme.