Ibrahimovic will now miss most of Milan’s title run-in, including matches against Sampdoria, Brescia and Bologna.

A statement released by the Lega Serie A confirmed the 29-year-old striker had been banned for having “insulted the assistant”.

Ibrahimovic received his eighth caution of the season during the game, earning an automatic ban, but was then sent off for abusing the assistant.

The Rossoneri have not confirmed whether they will appeal the ban. They are currently first in Serie A, three points above Napoli.

Although AC Milan lost to Inter on January 24th, since then they have picked up 13 points to Inter’s 10 and have closed the gap at the top of the table to just four points. Both sides have the distraction of Champions League football to worry about, but with AC Milan conceding three goals to Manchester United they are certainly not favourites to progress. Inter have a tough task at Chelsea, but at least Mourinho has a slender 2-1 lead to defend at his old stomping ground of Stamford Bridge. “Mourinho does not lose at Stamford Bridge” said the Inter boss, referring to his tenure in charge of Chelsea when he never lost a home game.

At this stage of the season, much comes down to a team’s mentality in the face of adversity. If, as expected, AC Milan are knocked out of the Champions League, their only focus would be the league – having been eliminated from the Italian Cup at the quarter final stage. It is a fascinating battle and at present it is impossible to tell whether Milan’s red or blue half will be celebrating come the end of the season, or indeed if Roma, seven points behind could make a breathtaking comeback.

Other battles underway include Juventus’ challenge for the elusive fourth Champions League spot – they are two points behind current occupants Palermo, and Fiorentina’s desperate struggle to get into any European slot after doing so well last year. The Viola are still in the Champions League, but it looks like winning the competition will be their only chance of gaining a place in next year’s tournament.

There are some huge matches in Serie A coming up this month, and tickets to the following are all available to compare and buy on Tixdaq.com:

21st March 2010 – AC Milan vs. Napoli
21st March 2010 – Fiorentina vs. Genoa
21st March 2010 – AS Roma vs. Udinese
28th March 2010 – AC Milan vs. Lazio
28th March 2010 – AS Roma vs. Inter Milan
28th March 2010 – Juventus vs. Atalanta

…as well as countless others!

Compare and buy Serie A tickets online!

Serie A is due to take its customary two-week winter break over the Christmas period.

But before the players can tuck into the turkey and mince pies there is a feast of mouth-watering matches on the final weekend before Santa does his rounds.

Highlights from the weekend of December 20th include:

Fiorentina v AC Milan

Juventus v Catania

AS Roma v Parma

Inter Milan v Lazio

Tickets for all these matches are still available to buy so if you are planning a Christmas holiday in Italy and love your football then check out the price of Serie A tickets on this website.

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After the conclusion of Matchday 6 in the UEFA Champions League the group stage has finally come to an end giving us the names of all the 16 teams that will fight it out in the knockout section of the competition.

No nation is currently dominating the competition though England’s Barclays Premier League and Spain’s La Liga both had three group winners – those teams constituted their total amount of representatives after Liverpool and Atletico Madrid fell at the first hurdle. There are also three teams from Italy’s Serie A left in the competition while France’s Ligue 1 and Germany’s Bundesliga each have two teams  left in the tournament. The final three spots are made up of one team each from Portugal, Russia and Greece.

The list of qualifers for the second round in full:

Bordeaux (FRA)

Manchester United (ENG)

Real Madrid (ESP)

Chelsea (ENG)

Fiorentina (ITA)

Barcelona (ESP)

Sevilla (ESP)

Arsenal (ENG)

Bayern Munich (GER)

CSKA Moscow (RUS)

AC Milan (ITA)

FC Porto (POR)

Lyon (FRA)

Inter Milan (ITA)

Stuttgart (GER)

Olympiacos (GRE)

The draw for the second round will take place on December 18.

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Fiorentina top Group E going into Matchday 6 of the UEFA Champions League and will be hoping to remain in that position by the time of the draw.

La Viola reached that lofty position by beating Lyon 1-0 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Matchday 5; a result that knocked cup specialists Liverpool out of Europe’s premier competition.

Now the Italian side must travel to Anfield for their final match knowing that their Merseyside opponents will be aiming to exact some sort of revenge for being dumped out of the tournament.

Only a win will guarantee first place for Fiorentina as Lyon face Debrecen at home, a game they will be expected to win handsomely. But winning on Liverpool’s own patch when they on cold Wednesday night in Europe is easier said than done.

It all depends on who Rafela Benitez selects in his line-up but winning breeds familiarity and professional pride will be the foundation of Liverpool’s performance.

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Just two matchdays remain in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and the pressure is beginning to mount.

Seven clubs have already qualified for the knockout stages – Chelsea, Porto, Manchester United, Arsenal, Bordeaux, Lyon and Sevilla – though issues such as who will top their respective groups and thus get a more favourable draw in the next round are still to be settled.

The most significant casualty so far in the competition this season would appear to be Liverpool as they are currently on the verge of a shock exit from a tournament that they have won on five occasions. A win for Fiorentina at Lyon in their next outing would condemn Rafael Benitez and his men to the UEFA Europa League.

Defending champions Barcelona are also in an uncomfortable position though not nearly as precarious as Liverpool. They sit third in Group F but with just two points separating all four teams they should be able to secure the necessary results to move into the next round.

Bayern Munich, however, are hanging by a thread with a victory away at Juventus on the final day almost certainly required for the Bavarians to have any chance of qualifying. Failure to do so would be a catastrophe for manager Louis Van Gaal who spent a vast amount of money in the summer overhauling his squad.

Neither AC Milan nor Real Madrid are assured of qualification either. The teams occupy the two top spots in Group C but with Marseille lurking ominously a point behind the pair there is still scope for an upset.

It is going to be a nervy few weeks for many clubs around Europe.

Compare and buy UEFA Champions League tickets online now.

The 2009/10 Serie A season is hotting up nicely with most of the usual suspects rising to the top of the table.

Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan are going for their fifth consecutive scudetto and currently sit top of the tree in Italy. City rivals AC Milan have recovered from a dreadful start to the season to sit in third place in the table but will take a lot of heart from their 3-2 win in the Bernabeu against Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League group match.

Juventus appointed their former defender Ciro Ferrara to the manager’s hot-seat following the dismissal of Claudio Ranieri and the rookie has surpassed expectation by sitting in a creditable second position with almost a third of the season gone.

Sampdoria made a flying start but their challenge has wilted of late while Fiorentina are chugging along nicely with their potent strikeforce of Adrian Mutu and Alberto Gilardino causing headaches for opposing defences.

The teams from the capital are both struggling though AS Roma are slowly climbing the table following the arrival of local man Ranieri. Lazio, however, are still looking down rather than up as they sit precariously above the relegation zone.

There are thousands Serie A tickets available throughout the rest of the season so compare and buy Serie A tickets online now.