11.  At Verona, Inter struggled against a restless home team as it missed the scoring skills of injured Italian striker Christian Vieri and key defender Marco Materazzi.

12.  Barcelona will be without key defender Miguel Angel Nadal and ace Romanian midfielder Gheorghe Hagi.

13.  Boban, Baresi, Massaro and Montenegrin forward Dejan Savicevic were the best players on the Italian side, which had to do without key defender Paolo Maldini.

14.  But its early enthusiasm was dashed when Slovakian referee Lubos Michel sent off captain and key defender Dehu.

15.  But Parma will be without suspended key defenders Nestor Sensini and Luigi Apolloni and midfielder Gabriele Pin.

16.  Coach Arrigo Sacchi, missing injured AC Milan key defenders Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta, fielded an unusual and untested defensive line.

17.  Defense, missing injured key defender Ciro Ferrara of Juventus, features rising star Alessandro Nesta of Lazio and AC Milan veterans Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta.

18.  Four players on the Rome squad, including key defender Alessandor Nesta, suffered injuries during the feature night match.

19.  Francesco Coco, who plays with Barcelona in the Spanish Liga, was called to make up for the absence of injured key defenders Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta.

20.  He is also a longtime key defender for Milan, where he has won six Serie A and three Champions League titles.