Off-field speculation shrouds Inzaghi´s San Paolo trip

Milan travel to face Napoli at Stadio San Paolo on Sunday with uncertainty looming large for Filippo Inzaghi and the San Siro club.

Inzaghi's side have taken just two points from their last four outings and the Milan coach recently acknowledged that his days may be numbered in charge of the club he spent 11 years at as a player.

Back-to-back defeats against Udinese and Genoa saw Inzaghi suggest a decision would be made on his future on Thursday.

Highlighting the level of unhappiness at Milan's form, the defeat to Udinese at the weekend led to Inzaghi's players staying at the club's Milanello training complex for a training retreat.

"I have an idea and I will share it with the club. When you hit the bottom you need to reflect. It isn't a retreat of one or two days that changes things," explained the Milan boss.

However, with Silvio Berlusconi rumoured to be close to selling the club to Thai investor Bee Taechaubol, Inzaghi appears to have been given a stay of execution due to the circumstances.

Despite boasting just one away win in Serie A since October's victory at Verona, Milan won the reverse fixture 2-0 against Napoli at San Siro.

Giacomo Bonaventura was on target along with Jeremy Menez, although the latter will miss Sunday's return clash due to suspension.

The Frenchman was banned for four games due to a tirade aimed at referee Piero Giacomelli following his second-half dismissal against Genoa.

Napoli also have a degree of uncertainty overshadowing the business end of their season, with the future of Rafael Benitez far from certain.

The Spaniard is strongly linked with a move away from the club and, despite remaining in contention for UEFA Europa League success, Napoli look set to miss out on a top-three spot.

Following wins over Fiorentina, Cagliari and Sampdoria, Napoli were undone 4-2 at Empoli as own goals from Miguel Britos and Raul Albiol hampered their cause.

That defeat leaves Benitez's men five points off Roma in third, although the Stadio Olimpico outfit continue to stutter towards the finish line.

Rudi Garcia's side have been inconsistent of late and, if Napoli can extend their unbeaten run at home in the league to eight matches, they could yet secure a Champions League qualification berth.

Injured trio Juan Zuniga, Ivan Strinic and Jonathan de Guzman look set to miss out again for Napoli.

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Champions boosted by Ibrahimovic return

Paris Saint-Germain's bid to retain the Ligue 1 title will be boosted by the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic when the leaders travel to Nantes on Sunday.

Sweden striker Ibrahimovic was slapped with a three-match ban in April for a foul-mouthed rant about referee Lionel Jaffredo in the aftermath of PSG's 3-2 defeat at Bordeaux in March.

However, Ibrahimovic has served his punishment and PSG's top scorer will now hope to score the goals to fire the champions to a third consecutive league title in the final four league matches.

Coach Laurent Blanc may have a dilemma on his hands, though, considering PSG have scored 12 goals in their three league victories during Ibrahimovic's absence.

One of the main beneficiaries has been Uruguay international Edinson Cavani, who has netted four times in that period, while Ezequiel Lavezzi scored a hat-trick in the 6-1 battering of Lille last weekend.

Another player flourishing for PSG is Javier Pastore, who produced three assists in a comfortable 3-1 triumph over Metz on Tuesday which ensured the champions have won five Ligue 1 games in a row.

The Argentine midfielder believes that the credit for the team's current form rests with Blanc.

"We all have a very good relationship with him," Pastore told Surface magazine. "Personally, I'm very happy. Instead of criticising Laurent Blanc we should congratulate him for all the achievements to date."

On the reasons for his own superb form, which led to Manchester United great Eric Cantona labelling him as the best player in the world, he added: "This season, for the first time since I arrived at PSG, I could perform a complete physical preparation before the start of the season.

"The fact that I feel perfectly fine physically helps me play my football."

The decision on whether to select Ibrahimovic is sure to give Blanc a welcome headache, and the former Barcelona striker was pivotal to PSG's success in December's reverse league fixture as he scored both goals in a 2-1 victory.

Recent history also suggests that PSG, who are three points clear of second-placed Lyon, should have little problem overcoming Michel Der Zakarian's men at the Stade de la Beaujoire with Nantes' last victory over the capital club coming in October 2004.

Such is the tight nature of Ligue 1 this term, 10th-placed Nantes are not yet mathematically sure of survival.

But a 1-0 victory over Marseille and a 1-1 draw at Toulouse last weekend has left them seven points clear of the bottom three.

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Pellegrini expecting entertaining encounter

Manchester City will look to boost their hopes of finishing second in the Premier League when they travel to Tottenham.

City's title defence could be over before they kick-off at White Hart Lane if Chelsea beat Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, but Manuel Pellegrini insists they are focused on finishing the campaign on a positive note.

Their away form will have to change if the Chilean is to get his wish given City have lost their last four matches on the road in the league, a run that has allowed Arsenal and Manchester United increase the pressure.

 

Arsenal are only behind City on goal difference with a game in hand, while United could leapfrog their fierce rivals with victory over West Brom on Saturday, placing further emphasis on beating Tottenham.

"It will be a very tough game because Tottenham are a good team with good players and a good manager," he said.  

"They play in an offensive way so we must work very hard in defence. They need points to qualify for the Europa League and we must try to be near the top of the table. It is two teams who play well and try to attack.

"We are thinking just to win the next game, this moment we are two points ahead of United so its just depends on what we can do, if we can reach the second place."

The last three meetings between the two sides have been goal-fests with at least five in each encounter, City winning all three and scoring 15 in the process.

Mauricio Pochettino will be concerned by Tottenham's lack of form against Pellegrini's side given their chase for a European place against Southampton and Liverpool.

Tottenham have only won once in their previous four matches and needed a Nacer Chadli strike to earn a 2-2 draw at Southampton last weekend.

"I think that it is important in the next four games to try to take the most points possible," he said. "It is always better if you finish fifth rather than seventh. That is our real target.

"We are focused on trying to finish the season as best as possible."

Pochettino confirmed Danny Rose has returned from a hamstring injury and could feature, but Ben Davies (shoulder) and Kyle Walker (foot) are both out.

City will be without influential midfielder Yaya Toure after he was ruled out with a hamstring problem, joining captain Vincent Kompany (thigh) and forward Stevan Jovetic on the sidelines.

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City can learn from Chelsea - Clichy

French full-back Gael Clichy admitted Manchester City can learn lessons from Premier League champions-elect Chelsea's ability to win at all costs.

Chelsea have been described as "boring" as they close to within two wins of the Premier League title under Jose Mourinho, who has defended the club's style of play following Sunday's dour goalless draw...

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Universitario 1 Tigres UANL 2: Visitors overcome early setback

After conceding in just the second minute, Tigres UANL came from behind to win 2-1 at Universitario in their Copa Libertadores round-of-16 first leg on Tuesday.

Universitario hit the front with an early corner, as Leonardo Castro's flick-on picked out Ignacio Gonzalez at the back post and the Uruguayan defender nodded home, but second-half goals to...

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Bayern's best display against Dortmund - Guardiola

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola believes his team's performance against Borussia Dortmund was their best against their rivals since his arrival.

Dortmund advanced to the DFB Pokal final on Tuesday after the clash finished 1-1 through 120 minutes, before Bayern missed four penalties to go down 2-0 in the shoot-out.

Guardiola, whose team had Arjen...

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We are title favourites - Blanc

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc acknowledged his side are now in pole position to win Ligue 1 after a 3-1 triumph over Metz on Tuesday.

PSG - who have won the last two Ligue 1 titles - started Tuesday's match goal difference behind Lyon.

But they won their game in hand, with goals from Marco Verratti, Edinson Cavani and Gregory van der Wiel...

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