Italy: Inter Hold on to Scudetto

Despite some late-season struggles, Inter Milan held on to win their third-straight Serie A title with a 2-0 win over Parma.  A pair of second-half goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic were enough to give the Nerazzuri their 16th title.

Their pursuers, AS Roma, applied the pressure by taking a 1-0 lead at Catania Calcio in the 8th minute.  A Roma win and an Inter draw would have sent the crown to the capital city, but with their title hopes dashed once Inter took a 2-0 lead, Roma surrendered a late equalizer to draw 1-1.

The day's other significant result saw Fiorentina hold off AC Milan for fourth place and a spot in next year's Champions League.  Milan trailed Udinese 1-0 at the half, but four second-half goals sparked a 4-1 rout.  That put the pressure on Fiorentina to get a win at Torino, and Pablo Osvaldo's 76th minute strike was all the Viola needed to secure fourth.   

UEFA CUP Recap

It will be Zenit St. Petersburg against Glasgow Rangers on May 14 for the UEFA Cup in Macnchester after both squads advanced through Thursday's semifinal second leg. Zenit dispatched Bayern Munich with ruthless efficency, winning 4-0 at home to take teh semifinal 5-1 on aggergate. Pavel Pogrebniak opened the scoring with the first of his two goals in the 5th minute as Zenit advanced to their first ever European final.

The fact that Bayern lost came as no surpise; they had not been at their best in their last three UEFA Cup ties and needed a miracle to get past Getafe in the quarters. Still, the depth of the loss was shocking to see from the soon-to-be Bundesliga champs.

There were far fewer goals in the Rangers-Fiorentina tie. The teams remained scoreless after 210 minutes and settled matters in a shootout, which Rangers won 4-2. Fiorentina dominated the match, outshooting the visitors 28-7, and later accused their conquerors of playing less than attractive football to force a goalless draw. For Glasgow, dreams of a quadruple remain very much alive but it will be a busy month of may for the squad. They still have six league matches left, as well as the Scottish Cup Final of May 24. Rangers will be boosted by a huge crowd advantage at City of Manchester Stadium when they face Zenit for the UEFA Cup.

UEFA CUP Recap

Today's UEFA Cup semifinals followed a similar form to the Champions League semis- a 1-1 draw, a 0-0 draw, and a devestating own goal that shocked the home fans.

The own goal came in Munich, where Zenit St. Petersburg were able to forge a 1-1 draw. Just as John Arne Riise did two days earlier, Ferreira Lucio headed a cross into the back of his own net in the 62nd minute. That disaster wiped out Bayern's early advantage that came when Franck Ribery followed up on his own missed penalty kick to open the scoring in the 19th minute.

Munich has been down this road before- drawing 1-1 with Getafe at home in the first leg of the quarterfinals before pulling out a miraculous 3-3 draw on the road. The hero of that fixture, Luca Toni, missed today's game due to card accumulation, and his return will be vital to the Germans' chances next week.

In Glasgow, Rangers posted their seventh home shutout of their European season in a scoreless draw against Fiorentina, Rangers, who played without the suspended Barry Ferguson and Kevin Thomson, have been strong away from home this season and fancy their chances of getting a result in Italy and advancing to the final.

Oddly enough, we could see at Russian side playing the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester, while a team from Manchester heads to Russia for the Champions League final.

UEFA Cup Final Four

While the UEFA Cup has slipped in stature over the past decade, this year's competition has produced some memorable fixtures, none greater than Bayern Munich's thrilling 3-3 draw at Getafe last week that sent the presumptive Bundesliga champs into the semifinals. Trailing the Spanish newcomers 2-1 on aggregate, Franck Ribery's 89th minute tally stunned the home crowd and sent the teams into extra time. Down a man for most of the match, Getafe scored twice in the first four minutes of extra time and appeared on their way to victory. But an opportunistic Luca Toni scored in the 115th and 120th minutes to put Bayern through on away goals after the teams finished 3-3 on aggregate.

Following a disappointing fourth-place finish in 2007, Bayern Munich have dropped only two league matches this season and remain the favorites to raise the trophy in Manchester, Their semifinal opponents will be defending Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg, currently a distant 11th in the league, but authors of an impressive 4-2 aggregate win in the quarters against Bayer Leverkusen.

On the opposite side, Glasgow Rangers, well on their way to the Scottish Premier League title, face Fiorentina, currently holding down fourth place in Serie A. Both advanced with impressive 2-0 road victories in the quarterfinals- Rangers away to Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina taking down Dutch champs PSV Eindhoven.

Bayern and Fiorentina are my picks to advance to the final.