Race for Champions League places hots up

While Juventus and Milan are romping away from the rest of Serie A, Inter's visit to Palermo tomorrow night highlights how close the battle for Champions League places has become behind them.

Only 10 points separate Inter, in fourth, from 16th-placed Chievo, and the mid-table sides are queuing up to take advantage of any slips.

Inter's league form has stuttered recently with back-to-back draws against Chievo and Reggina but Palermo are full of confidence after beating Siena and Lazio.

A victory for the Sicilians at the weekend would bring them level with Inter on 32 points, although striker Lamberto Zauli risks missing the match with a muscle strain.

The visitors, meanwhile, are still without leading scorer Adriano, who is recovering from a calf injury.

Coach Robert Mancini is therefore likely to start Christian Vieri alongside in-form Obafemi Martins, who got the winner in Inter's 1-0 Italian Cup victory over Atalanta in midweek.

The other matches

Chievo vs Livorno - Livorno will be full of confidence after pulling off one of the shocks of the season when they outclassed Milan 1-0 last weekend. Chievo have been steadily sinking in the league and are without suspended defender Marco Malago.

Parma vs Udinese - Udinese won the first meeting 4-0 earlier this season but their confidence has been shaken by back-to-back defeats against Milan and Reggina. Parma's fight against relegation is not helped by a one-match ban for midfielder Fabio Simplicio.

Atalanta vs Juventus - Based on the standings this should be easy work for Juve, although the Serie A leaders will approach Atalanta with caution after being knocked out of the Italian Cup by them this month.

Juve coach Fabio Capello looks set to start Ruben Olivera in place of Pavel Nedved, who injured his knee in last week's win over Brescia.

Brescia vs Lecce - Lecce start without leading scorer Valeri Bojinov, who is suspended. Brescia coach Gianni De Biasi could use the game to give a debut to new striker Marco Delvecchio, who arrived from Roma during the week.

Cagliari vs Fiorentina - In the absence of suspended striker Fabrizio Miccoli, newly-appointed Fiorentina coach Dino Zoff is expected to start Enrico Fantini alongside Christian Riganò in attack.

David Suazo's excellent performance in Cagliari's midweek 2-0 Italian Cup win over Sampdoria has boosted his claim to partner Gianfranco Zola up front for the home side.

Milan vs Bologna - Champions Milan attempt to close the five-point gap with Juventus but are missing defender Alessandro Nesta, who was sent off during last week's 1-0 defeat by Livorno.

They could be given a tough test by Bologna, who are unbeaten since mid-December and have won three of their last five matches.

Reggina vs Lazio - Juventus and Roma have already suffered defeats at Reggina's Granillo stadium this season.

Lazio, having lost their last two matches, are sliding towards the relegation zone and their hopes of avoiding becoming the southerners' latest big scalp are damaged by the suspension of midfielder Ousmane Dabo.

Roma vs Messina - Francesco Totti returns from a calf injury to bolster Roma's attack as they press their claim for a Champions League place.

Messina striker Riccardo Zampagna is expected to miss the match due to a muscle strain.

Sampdoria vs Siena - Siena are in desperate need of a win to help them escape the relegation zone but risk losing striker Enrico Chiesa to 'flu.

Sampdoria's 2-1 win over Lazio in the last round of matches took them to within a point of fourth-placed Inter but they start without strikers Francesco Flachi, who is suspended, and Simone Inzaghi, who has a muscle strain.

Serie A

Playing Today
Chievo vs Livorno (2-1) 6 p.m.
Parma vs Udinese (0-4) 8.30 p.m.

Playing Tomorrow
Atalanta vs Juventus (0-2)
Brescia vs Lecce (1-4)
Cagliari vs Fiorentina (1-2)
Milan vs Bologna (2-0)
Palermo vs Inter (1-1) 8.30 p.m.
Reggina vs Lazio (1-1)
Roma vs Messina (3-4)
Sampdoria vs Siena (1-2)

Serie B

Played Yesterday
Empoli vs Verona 1-0
Salernitana vs Ternana 1-1

Playing Tomorrow
Arezzo vs Treviso (4-1)
Catanzaro vs Triestina (0-1)
Cesena vs Crotone (1-0)
Modena vs AlbinoLeffe (0-2)
Perugia vs Bari (1-1)
Pescara vs Genoa (0-2)
Torino vs Ascoli (3-0)
Venezia vs Piacenza (1-2)
Vicenza vs Catania (0-1)

Primera Liga

Playing Today
A. Madrid vs Albacete
Sevilla vs Barcelona

Playing Tomorrow
Espanyol vs Real Betis
Osasuna vs Deportivo
Numancia vs Real Madrid
R. Santander vs Levante
R. Mallorca vs Getafe
R. Sociedad vs Villarreal
R. Zaragoza vs Malaga
Valencia vs A. Bilbao

Ligue 1

Playing Today
Bastia vs Lyon
Toulouse vs Marseille
Caen vs Lille
R. Lens vs R. Strasbourg
Metz vs AJ Auxerre
S. Rennes vs G. Bordeaux
St Etienne vs Ajaccio pp
Sochaux vs Nice

Playing Tomorrow
Istres vs Nantes
Monaco vs Paris SG
Bundesliga

Playing Today
A. Bielefeld vs Hanover
B. Leverkusen vs Bochum
B. Dortmund vs B. M'gladbach
Freiburg vs Wolfsburg
Hamburg vs Mainz
Kaiserslautern vs Schalke 04
Stuttgart vs Nuremberg

Playing Tomorrow
H. Berlin vs B. Munich
W. Bremen vs H. Rostock