Soccer-Italy-roundup: Milan eye Drogba and Shevchenko

* AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said Chelsea forwards Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko were among the players he would like to fill the gap left by injured Ronaldo, along with Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and Olympique Lyon's Karim Benzema.

"All four of those would be fine," Galliani told La Gazzetta dello Sport's Web site (www.gazzetta.it) when asked about a possible replacement for the Brazilian, who is expected to be out for nine months after undergoing knee surgery last week. "We'll talk about the transfer market in May-June, but with Ronaldo out, we need another striker."

* Alberto Gilardino and 18-year-old Brazilian Alexandre Pato are favourites to lead the European champions' attack in Sunday's Serie A game against Palermo at the San Siro.

* Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and striker Vincenzo Iaquinta miss Juventus's visit to second-from-bottom Reggina on Saturday because of back problems, along with Serie A's top-scorer David Trezeguet (flu) and defender Jonathan Zebina (knee), the club said on their Web site (www.juventus.com). The Turin side, who lie third, are also without suspended midfielder Antonio Nocerino. Mauro Camoranesi is expected to play even though he too has back trouble.

* Leaders Inter will be without defender Ivan Cordoba for Sunday's game against Sampdoria in Genoa. The Colombian's season may be over after he injured knee ligaments in Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Liverpool in the Champions League. France midfielder Patrick Vieira is available for the champions, who are unbeaten in Serie A this season, after serving a two-match suspension.

* Midfielder Sergio Volpi is suspended for Sampdoria, who have climbed to seventh thanks to some inspirational performances by on-loan Real Madrid forward Antonio Cassano.

* Brazilian defender Juan is likely to miss AS Roma's home game against fourth-placed Fiorentina on Sunday because of an ankle knock he suffered in Tuesday's 2-1 win over Real Madrid. Coach Luciano Spalletti will be unable to field suspended winger Mancini, who scored the winner on Tuesday.