Italy 1 Paraguay 1

Fiorentina 3 Bayern Munich 2 (aggregate 4-4; Bayern progress on away goals)

Bayern Munich 2 Fiorentina 1

LIVERPOOL captain Steven Gerrard reflected on his team’s Champions League campaign and admitted it had been “not good enough” after the Reds’ involvement in the competition finished with a 2-1 home defeat to Fiorentina at Anfield last night.

Liverpool 1 Fiorentina 2

IRELAND’S painful Italian lesson can prove invaluable against the French. So says Richard Dunne, and Liam Brady wholeheartedly agrees.

PORTUGAL booked themselves a place in the European play-offs for next year’s World Cup after an easy 4-0 Group One victory over Malta.

Italy 3 Cyprus 2

BY the time the Arsenal trot out to play Birmingham on Saturday, sadly our goalfest against Blackburn will be a distant memory.

Giovanni Trapattoni is confident no-one will relish being drawn against his Republic of Ireland team in the World Cup play-offs after their near miss against holders Italy.

Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni has urged his team to learn from their painful lesson after Italy snatched World Cup victory from their grasp.

Republic of Ireland goalscorer Sean St Ledger admitted his side's frustration despite holding world champions Italy to a draw for the second time in World Cup Qualifying Group Eight.

Republic of Ireland 2 Italy 2

Rep of Ireland 2 Italy 2

LIVERPOOL fans are familiar enough with uncertainty over club finances and their owners’ intentions to have some sympathyfor their opponents tonight.

ITALY made their reservations for the World Cup finals in South Africa last night after a dramatically improved performance against Bulgaria in Turin.

Italy 2 Bulgaria 0

Andrea Pirlo has kept his place in the team for Italy's World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria tonight.

“AN OWN-GOAL would be fine,” joked Marcello Lippi yesterday, but behind the smiles, there is some anxiety ahead of their biggest match so far in World Cup Group 8.

Switzerland 0 Italy 0

SERBIA tightened their grip on World Cup qualifying Group Seven with a routine 2-0 win over Brian Kerr’s Faroe Islands last night.

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

IN A press conference room just off the hallowed marble halls of the Vassil Levski Stadium, the thin-faced Plamen Markov yesterday pondered the past and future roles of Italian football in his career as Bulgarian coach.

ITALY coach Marcello Lippi has left out veteran striker Alessandro Del Piero from his 23-man squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in Ireland’s group against Bulgaria and Montenegro.

MARCELLO LIPPI failed to weave his magic in his first match since returning to the Italy helm as the Azzurri were forced to recover from two goals down to draw with Austria in a friendly in Nice last night.

Arsene Wenger opted on the side of caution by deploying Emmanuel Adebayor as a lone striker when Arsenal took on AC Milan for a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the San Siro tonight.

AC Milan youngster Alexandre Pato has shaken off an ankle injury and will be available to play at Arsenal in Wednesday’s Champions League showdown.

SO THERE is to be no historic all-English Champions League final.

Alex Ferguson took a calculated gamble in the San Siro tonight by naming Nemanja Vidic in the Manchester United starting line-up to face AC Milan in their Champions League semi-final.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson made three changes to his side for this Champions League semi-final first leg match at Old Trafford.

AC MILAN coach Carlo Ancelotti admits an injury to Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand will play into his team’s hands for the Champions League semi-final.

Brazilian goalkeeper Dida has been included in AC Milan’s 25-man squad for Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

AC Milan 2 Bayern Munich 2

SATURDAY night’s 1-1 draw between Roma and Milan in Rome lived up to its billing as a possible dress rehearsal for the Champions League semi-final.

AC MILAN coach Carlo Ancelotti has warned Bayern Munich that his team is coming into form at just the right moment before tonight’s Champions League quarter-final at the San Siro.

Celtic 0 AC Milan 0

Milan strikers Alberto Gilardino and Filippo Inzaghi look likely to miss Tuesday's Champions League match with Celtic in Glasgow.

ROBERTO MANCINI etched his name into Inter Milan’s history books yesterday with a record-breaking ninth successive league victory, beating Messina 2-0.

AC Milan 1 Red Star Belgrade 0

Italy coach Marcello Lippi and his France counterpart Raymond Domenech both named unchanged teams for Sunday evening’s World Cup final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup dream was destroyed by two Italy goals at the end of extra time as Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero struck to secure a place in the final.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi sprung no surprises when he named his team for the World Cup semi-final showdown against host nation Germany.

Czech Republic 0 Italy 2

ITALIAN coach Marcello Lippi expects Daniele De Rossi to receive some harsh punishment for elbowing US forward Brian McBride in the face.