Napoli 3 Chelsea 1

Ashley Cole joined John Terry in failing to make Chelsea’s Champions League clash at Napoli tonight.

MANCHESTER CITY may be riding high in the Premier League but their Champions League hopes are out of their hands after Roberto Mancini’s side crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Napoli last night.

Napoli 2 Manchester City 1

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini made four changes for tonight’s crucial Champions League Group A clash at Napoli’s intimidating Stadio San Paolo.

THE ghosts of the past did their best to play tricks on Manchester City as they renewed their acquaintance with the European Cup last night but Roberto Mancini declared himself happy with their Champions League debut and promised better to come.

Man City 1 Napoli 1

Manchester City v Napoli

LIVERPOOL captain Steven Gerrard came to his side’s aid once again as his late hat-trick inspired the side to a Europa League victory against Napoli which highlighted the gulf in class within the squad.

Liverpool 3 Napoli 1

MANAGER Roy Hodgson claimed after last night’s draw in Naples he intends to enjoy a long spell at Liverpool, and rubbished speculation he could stand down after the difficult start to his reign.

Napoli 0 Liverpool 0

Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington handed out four new caps in his starting XI with Chris Casement, Colin Coates, Corry Evans and Stephen Carter all lining up for the first time in a largely inexperienced team to face Italy.

WORLD champions Italy shared the honours with Greece after a low-key encounter in Athens ended in a draw between the two European rivals.

France and Italy walk out for their trans-Alpine clash at Zurich’s Letzigrund tonight knowing their Euro 2008 fate lies in the hands of Romania.

The return of Cesc Fabregas was one of a host of changes made by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger for tonight’s Champions League Group H match with Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger decided to change a winning side for the visit of Sevilla in the Champions League tonight.

Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr threw caution to the wind and named a strong attacking line-up in a bid to gain a confidence-boosting win ahead of next month’s vital World Cup qualifier with France.

Italian goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis has indicated he would probably jump at any offer to replace Arsenal veteran David Seaman.