Italy

Suso sizzler salvages draw

A late equalizer by Suso secured AC Milan a 1-1 draw at Lazio on Monday to boost the visitor's Europa League qualification bid.

Lazio, fighting for a top-three finish in a tightly contested Serie A, looked set for a second straight win after its 6-2 romp at Pescara when Lucas Biglia put the host ahead on the stroke of halftime.

But Simone Inzaghi's men were stunned five minutes from the end at a near-empty Stadio Olimpico when Suso cut in from the right to superbly curl past Lazio goalkeeper Tomas Strakosha.

Inzaghi deemed the glass half full but admitted the result should have been different.

"I'm very proud of what I saw. We should easily have won this game but sometimes you just don't hit the net," said Inzaghi. "In the end, a great goal from Suso secured a draw which, for me, wasn't deserved."

Milan had ended a recent three-game losing run with a come-from-behind win at Bologna, and this result kept Vincenzo Montella's men in the fight for a Europa League place.

Milan remains seventh, 19 points behind leader Juventus and 10 behind third-place Napoli.

"We will do everything we can to try and qualify for the Europa League," Suso told Mediaset.

Spain

Copa final part of Calderon farewell

The Copa del Rey final between holder Barcelona and Alaves on May 27 will be played at Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon stadium, the Spanish Football Federation said on Monday.

It will be the second year running Atletico will host the showpiece after Barca lifted the trophy for a record 28th time last term following a 2-0 extra-time win over Sevilla.

Atletico, which lost to Barca in this year's semifinals, will leave Vicente Calderon at the end of the season and move to a new 67,000-capacity stadium for the 2017-18 campaign.

Atletico is moving to its new home on the northeast side of Madrid after 50 years at the Vicente Calderon.

The Copa final will, as things stands, be the final competitive match to be played at the old venue, which is a cause of major upset for Atletico fans.

Ronaldo trains away from squad

Cristiano Ronaldo trained apart from the team on Monday ahead of Real Madrid's Champions League last-16, first-leg visit of Napoli.

The Portuguese scoring machine, with a record 96 Champions League strikes to his name, was hit by a heavy tackle in a 3-1 win over Osasuna on the weekend and injured his right leg, according to media reports.

As the rest of the Madrid squad practiced on Monday, Ronaldo and defender Fabio Coentrao trained inside, the club's website reported.

The 32-year-old was expected to shake off the injury in time to face Napoli at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Welsh forward Gareth Bale took a full part in the session, looking upbeat after three months out with a heel injury. Bale will not play in Wednesday's match but could return for the return leg in Naples on Feb 22.

Agencies