Maran sacked: Rolando Maran, who led Catania through one of their best seasons last term, became the third Serie A coaching victim of the campaign when he was fired last night. The club immediately named Luigi De Canio as his replacement. Maran was dismissed one day after the Sicilians lost 2-1 to Cagliari, leaving them with five points from eight games.

Gabriel: Young Milan goal-keeper Gabriel said he was very happy to have made his debut in Serie A with a clean sheet after the Rossoneri’s 1-0 win over Udinese on Saturday. The 21-year-old Brazilian was drafted into the team following an injury to regular keeper Christian Abbiati. “It was a great debut for me and I am very happy. I was a little tense but it went very well at the end,” Gabriel said.

Friendly: Chile will play Brazil in a friendly next month in Canada as part of their preparations for the 2014 World Cup finals. They will meet the World Cup hosts on Nov. 19 in Toronto, four days after playing England at Wembley. Chile, who finished third in the South American qualifiers, will host Germany in March.

Commons: Celtic midfielder Kris Commons will almost certainly miss tomorrow’s Champions League visit by Ajax after coming off early at Hibernian on Saturday. Commons was his side’s best player before being forced off with a hamstring injury during the 1-1 draw. “It’s a huge blow,” said Celtic manager Neil Lennon. “He’s been fantastic this season, he’s at the top of his game. We just have to see how it is in the coming days, but it doesn’t look good.”

Britos: Napoli coach Rafa Benitez will be anxiously waiting for the news from the clinic after it was revealed that defender Miguel Angel Britos has a suspected dislocated shoulder following the match at Roma on Friday. Britos went off in the first half at the Olimpico and yesterday Napoli confirmed the Uruguayan will be undergoing more tests in his right shoulder today.