5 years ago, the Italian league was rocked by a scandal, the likes of which the footballing world had not seen before. A number of telephone interceptions showed a network between managers of several top-flight teams, and the referee organisations, with the teams effectively implicated of rigging games by selecting favourable referees.
Moggi, former Juventus manager given a lifetime ban following the scandal
The 2004-05 and the 2005-06 Seria A titles had both finished with Juventus 1st and AC Milan 2nd. Following investigation into the scandal, it was decided that Juventus would be relegated to Serie B, and that their two titles for 2004-05 and 2005-06 stripped from their record.
As such, no one was awarded the 2004-05 title- the only gap in records since World War II (when the Italian national team, world champions in 1938, retained the trophy for 12 years due to the Second World War stopping the tournament from taking place- one for the pub quizzes!)
In addition, the 2005-06 title was stripped from Juventus. As AC Milan, among others, were implicated in the scandal, and also deducted points and denied entry to the 2006-07 Champions League (at least, denied automatic entry), the title instead was awarded to the 3rd place team, Internazionale.
So, since 2006, Inter Milan have been accredited with the Serie A title for that season. But, recently, new evidence suggested that this too was the wrong decision. Inter have been under investigation since last year after lawyers suggested phonetaps implicated Inter in the affair also.
The club denied any wrongdoing, and despite a report by FIGC (the Italian football federation) prosecutors accusing Inter of fraud, the executive committee's majority vote, earlier today, that a revoking of the 2005-06 Scudetto was beyond its jurisdiction, has put the affair to bed, and it looks like Inter Milan will retain the title.
AC Milan's Brazilian playmaker, Kaka, has won the prestigious Ballon D'Or as European Footballer of the Year for 2007.
The Brazilian, 25, was the Champions League's top scorer last season with 10 goals as he led his team to the title, beating Liverpool in Athens in the final.
"This is very special for me - it culminates an astonishing year for me," Kaka said.
The Ballon D'Or is awarded annually by France Football magazine who poll 96 prominent football journalists for their votes on who they think is that year's best player from a shortlist of 50. In the end, Kaka won by a large margin on 444 points with second placed Cristiano Ronaldo, 22, on 277 points. Barcelona's Lionel Messi came third.
AC Milan 1 - 0 Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 - 2 Benfica
SUMMARY:
Scottish champions Celtic are through to the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League for the second season on the trot despite going down 1-0 to AC Milan at the San Siro.
Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi broke the deadlock on the 70th minute with his 63rd goal in UEFA club competitions - a new record - to seal the win, and top spot in the group, for his side.
In the opening stages, the visitors looked nervous knowing that a draw would seal their place in the next phase of Europe's premier club competition. Once the nerves had settled, Celtic were happy to sit back and hit Milan on the counter-attack but lacked the incisive cutting edge to break the Rossoneri defence.
However, the Scottish champions were stunned 21 minutes from time when Brazilian Cafu squared the ball inside the area for Inzaghi to score his record breaking goal.
Despite the loss, the Scottish side were still able to celebrate qualification after Shakhtar Donetsk's 2-1 loss to Benfica in the other Group D match.
AC Milan goalkeeper Dida has had his two-match suspension reduced by UEFA following an appeal by the club.
The 34-year-old Brazilian was initially banned for two games for his theatrics following a very minor 'altercation' with a Celtic fan that had gone onto the pitch during the 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park.
The initial two-match suspension has now been reduced to just one with a further game suspended for a year.
AC Milan's grounds for appeal were that the keeper's actions was nevertheless a mistake but his error did not hinder anyone, not Celtic, nor any player. The club were also unhappy that Celtic were fined only £25,000 which, in their opinion, was lenient compared to the suspension Dida received.
The decision by UEFA to reduce the suspension is an absolute disgrace. The initial two-match suspension was by no means harsh by any standards - some would say that Dida deserved to have been heavily punished for tarnishing the reputation and integrity of the game.
By reducing the length of the suspension, UEFA has effectively condoned the keeper's actions and that any other player thinking of doing the same in the future can expect just a one-match ban.
Who else thinks Celtic should reduce the fan's lifetime banishment from the club's matches now? They might as bloody well!
AC Milan are through to the final of the UEFA Champion's League for 2007 with a crushing win over Manchester United at the San Siro.
The Red Devils were distinctly off-colour for such an important game and Milan's Brazilian maestro Kaka duly punished them with a goal inside the first 11 minutes to add to the brace he scored in the 1st leg.
Confusion in the United defence between Gabriel Heinze and Nemanja Vidic gave Milan their second goal of the evening with Clarence Seedorf the scorer.
It took until the hour for United to really get going but they still did not manage to break down the Milan defence and shortly after, it was all over - game, set and match Milan when substitute Alberto Gilardino was released down the middle and he ran 40 yards before coolly curling the ball home.
While a Liverpool - Manchester United would have been absolutely mouth-watering, we will now witness a rematch of the epic 2005 final between Liverpool and Milan which the mighty Reds came out on top after coming back from 3 - 0 down to win on penalties.
The Champion's League final 2007 will be in Athens on May 23rd.
Brazilian striker and three-time World Player of the Year Ronaldo has joined Italian Serie A giants AC Milan from Real Madrid for £4.95m on an 18-month contract.
Ronaldo had fallen out of favour this season at Real following the arrival of new boss Fabio Capello and has started only three league games this season. He has also faced strong criticism over the last two seasons for being overweight and seemingly lacking motivation.
In a distinguished footballing career, the striker has won two World Cups with Brazil and set a record for goals scored in World Cups in Germany last year.
The departure of Ronaldo and David Beckham's imminent move to the US sparks the end of the Galactico era at Real Madrid.
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