APPIANO GENTILE - Preparations for Tuesday night's UEFA Champions League last sixteen return leg away to Chelsea commenced this morning at the training headquarters.

José Mourinho, the coaching staff and the players spent the night at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti on their return from Catania, and were joined this morning by the players who did not travel to Sicily for last night's Serie A game.

All the players took part in this morning's training session, which began at 10:30 and ended just after midday, performing recovery sessions on the pitch, in the gym or in the pool according to individual necessities. The Nerazzurri then performed a series of possession drills in groups.

CATANIA - Inter's technical director Marco Branca spoke on Sky Sport Italia after the 3-1 defeat to Catania. "We controlled the match well until we took the lead, even if we weren't playing very well," he said. ""But then, unfortunately, we were careless and then there was a clear hand ball and a penalty. It's obviously a period in which we are finding it hard to find the right concentration.

"We have never conceded a goal like the one for their equaliser with only one opponent in our penalty area. We made a mistake, we probably thought the match was going our way. The boss put on an extra striker at the start of the second half to give more liveliness to our manoeuvre and we had some chances but we didn't manage to capitalise. Catania deserved to win. We have to learn from what happened and move on. We lacked the usual attention and concentration."

Branca reiterated that the Nerazzurri were completely focused on Catania, not on next Tuesday's Champions League game at Stamford Bridge: "We were thinking about this game, not about Chelsea. We knew Catania were in excellent form and we were concentrated on this game, but evidently we didn't show it. Tonight's defeat shouldn't worry us. We have to turn it into an extra motivation ahead of the Chelsea game. It's a one-off, a last sixteen return leg, something completely different with a different intensity and a different opponent."

Commenting on the atmosphere inside the Inter dressing room, Branca explained: "There's no friction, there are no problems in the dressing room. Will Balotelli return for Chelsea? I don't know. Tomorrow we will see with the doctor and the coach. The introduction of Muntari? It was a technical decision. There's nothing else to add."

CATANIA - A game decided by episodes saw Inter condemned to only their second defeat in 28 Serie A games. At the Stadio Massimino it ended 3-1 to Catania, with Maxi Lopez, Mascara and Martinez replying to Milito's solitary strike for Inter.

CATANIA - Inter were tested to the max at the Stadio Massimino as José Mourinho's men were sent to their first defeat in eighteen games.

Diego Milito scored his nineteenth of the season to put the Nerazzurri in front but Maxi Lopez equalised before a Giuseppe Mascara penalty after the dismissal of Muntari and a solo effort from Jorge Martinez gave the home side a famous victory.

It was never going to be easy down in Sicily. The Rossazzurri defended in numbers and looked dangerous coming forward, but their finishing was off the mark in a first half which saw Ricchiuti waste two good chances. 

Inter's best opportunity of the opening half fell to Sneijder who forced a punched block from Andujar with a terrific 20-yard drive.

The introduction of Quaresma for Mariga at the interval gave Inter a more attacking dimension and the Portuguese treated us to a trivela cross and some pacy dribbling before setting up Sneijder who saw his shot blocked by Terlizzi.

Inter broke the deadlock nine minutes after the break when Sneijder served Eto'o with a precise lofted pass and the Cameroonian beat the offside trap and unselfishly squared for Milito to slot past the despairing dive of Andujar.

Sneijder found the side-netting as Inter looked to kill off the game with a quick second goal, but after a stuttering start to the second half Catania attacked with renewed belief and cancelled out Milito's opener in the 74th minute when Maxi Lopez got in behind Lucio to convert a low cross from Alvarez.

Inter used up their remaining two substitutions after the Rossazzurri's equaliser, bringing on Pandev for Stankovic and Muntari for Cambiasso.

The Ghanaian midfielder's presence on the pitch lasted all of two minutes, during which he was booked for a foul on Martinez and then sent off for handling Mascara's shot from a free kick. Referee Valeri had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Mascara stepped up to put his side in front with a cucchiaio penalty kick.

Catania added insult to injury in the last minute when Martinez slipped past Lucio on the left and took the ball round Julio Cesar before slotting into an open goal to send the home fans into delirium.

Catania 3-1 Inter (HT: 0-0)

Scorers: Milito 54, Maxi Lopez 74, Mascara (pen) 81, Martinez 90.

Catania: 21 Andujar; 22 Alvarez, 23 Terlizzi, 6 Silvestre, 33 Capuano (2 Potenza 88); 19 Ricchiuti (4 Delvecchio 76), 27 Biagianti, 13 Izco; 25 Martinez, 11 Maxi Lopez (5 Carboni 84), 7 Mascara.

Subs not used: 30 Campagnolo, 8 Ledesma, 15 Morimoto, 18 Augustyn.
Coach: Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Inter: 12 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 23 Materazzi, 4 Zanetti; 5 Stankovic (27 Pandev 77), 19 Cambiasso, 17 Mariga (7 Quaresma 46); 10 Sneijder; 22 Milito, 9 Eto'o.
Subs not used: 1 Toldo, 21 Orlandoni, 2 Cordoba, 11 Muntari, 15 Krhin.

Coach: José Mourinho.

Referee: Paolo Valeri (Rome).

Booked: Biagianti 24, Zanetti 45, Stankovic 51, Martinez 76, Muntari 80, 81.
Sent off: Muntari 81.

CATANIA - Starting XIs for tonight's Week 28 clash at the Stadio Massimino (kick-off 20:45):

Catania: 21 Andujar; 22 Alvarez, 23 Terlizzi, 6 Silvestre, 33 Capuano; 19 Ricchiuti, 27 Biagianti, 13 Izco; 25 Martinez, 11 Maxi Lopez, 7 Mascara.
Subs: 30 Campagnolo, 2 Potenza, 4 Delvecchio, 5 Carboni, 8 Ledesma, 15 Morimoto, 18 Augustyn.
Coach: Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Inter: 12 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 23 Materazzi, 4 Zanetti; 5 Stankovic, 19 Cambiasso, 17 Mariga; 10 Sneijder; 22 Milito, 9 Eto'o.
Subs: 1 Toldo, 21 Orlandoni, 2 Cordoba, 7 Quaresma, 11 Muntari, 15 Krhin, 27 Pandev.
Coach: José Mourinho.

Referee: Paolo Valeri (Rome).

MILAN - Support for Inter knows no limits. In New Zealand, a group of Inter fans and Italian residents have organised a friendly tournament this weekend with the sponsorship of Pirelli NZ.

The four-team tournament will see Kaeo FC, a team of Inter fans who reside in New Zealand, take on Auckland Mags Under-19, Whangarei North Force and Kerikeri. Auckland Mags are coached by Englishman Kevin Fallon, who was assistant coach of the All Whites team that qualified for the 1982 World Cup.

The Italian players in the Inter team are defenders Stefano 'Matrix' Virgili and Giuseppe 'Ramiro' Martegani, midfielders Emanuele 'Cambiasso' Barbieri and Jesse 'Javier' Mottl, and half-striker 'Sneijder' Tornaghi. The team also includes Mike 'Quaresma' Mendes from Portugal, a Brazilian and an Algerian who is a top professional boxer.

Saturday 13 March - game 1...2.45pm Kaeo v North Force
- game 2...4pm Kerikeri v Mags

Sunday 14 March

- game 3...11:30am Kerikeri v North Force 

- game 4...12:40pm Kaeo v Mags

- game 5...2:30pm North Force v Mags 

- game 6...3:40pm Kaeo v Kerikeri

MILAN - Massimo Moratti spoke briefly to journalists this morning on his arrival at the Lega Calcio offices.

This is what he had to say:

How did you take the declarations made by Mario Balotelli's family?
"I read them in the newspapers. It's important that the club and the player are not damaged."

And what do you have to say about the fact that Mino Raiola is the player's new agent?
"We have done a good deal with Raiola in the past."

Were you irritated by the fact that Mourinho broke the press silence with his declarations the other day?
"I'm not that formal."

Now that Milan and Fiorentina are out of the Champions League, do you feel more responsibility as you are the only team representing Italy?
"We felt this responsability before, too."

Do you agree that Italian football is in crisis after these eliminations?
"They always talk about a crisis as soon as you lose a game, and when you win there's no longer a crisis. It's always the same. It happens that you get difficult opponents and English football is difficult, especially when you play there, so it will be as hard for us as it has been for the others. But Spanish football has also had a few difficulties in the Champions League."

MILAN - FC Internazionale informs fans that tickets for the upcoming Serie A Week 30 match at home to Livorno (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Wednesday 24 March at 20:45) will be available at the following sales points starting Wednesday 17 March:

- all branches of Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM)
- all branches of Banca di Legnano (BdL)
- Feltrinelli bookstores
- Lottomatica circuit
- online through inter.it

Ticket prices

APPIANO GENTILE - President Massimo Moratti followed the final training session before Friday evening's Serie A Week 28 match away to Catania.

All of José Mourinho's players took part in the workout. During the final phase of the session Mario Balotelli sustained a knock to his right knee that rules him out of the Catania trip.

Also unavailable for tomorrow night's match are suspended defender Walter Samuel, Cristian Chivu, who is completing his return from injury, and Marko Arnautovic, who has gone down with the flu. 

APPIANO GENTILE - José Mourinho has named a squad of 20 players for Friday evening's Serie A Week 28 match against Catania at the Stadio Angelo Massimino (kick-off 20:45).

Goalkeepers: 1 Francesco Toldo, 12 Julio Cesar, 21 Paolo Orlandoni.

Defenders: 2 Ivan Ramiro Cordoba, 4 Javier Zanetti, 6 Lucio, 13 Maicon, 23 Marco Materazzi, 39 Davide Santon.

Midfielders: 5 Dejan Stankovic, 7 Ricardo Quaresma, 8 Thiago Motta, 10 Wesley Sneijder, 11 Sulley Muntari, 15 Rene Krhin, 17 MacDonald Mariga, 19 Esteban Cambiasso.

Strikers: 9 Samuel Eto'o, 22 Diego Milito, 27 Goran Pandev.

APPIANO GENTILE - Inter's run of three games on the road begins tomorrow night at the Stadio Angelo Massimino in Catania. The Nerazzurri then face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge before a return trip to Sicily the following weekend with Palermo at the Renzo Barbera. In all three games the goal remains the same: victory.

APPIANO GENTILE - Wearing his protective head mask, Cristian Chivu trained at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti this morning with his team-mates ahead of their afternoon departure for Catania.

Click below to see pictures of Thursday's training session:

MILAN - Friday night's Serie A Week 28 match between Catania and Inter will be refereed by Paolo Valeri of the Roma 2 refereeing section. Valeri, who has never refereed the Nerazzurri before, will be assisted at the Stadio Massimino by linesmen Romagnoli and Nicoletti, with Brighi acting as fourth official.

APPIANO GENTILE - The Nerazzurri trained again this morning ahead of Friday night's match against Catania at the Stadio Angelo Massimino. The snow was cleared from the training pitches at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti to allow Mourinho's players to continue their preparations for Serie A Week 28 with a session consisting of warm-up exercises, possession and technical-tactical drills, and a series of practice games. 

APPIANO GENTILE - There's snow all around, but not on the pitches at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti as Wednesday morning's training session took place without any problems:

APPIANO GENTILE - The snow has returned, but there's no stopping the Nerazzurri who were back on the training pitch this morning for the second session ahead of Friday night's Catania clash at the Stadio Massimino: 

BERGAMO - Inter captain Javier Zanetti was last night presented with the 2009 Turani Prize, an annual award named after Daniele Turani, president of Atalanta from 1945 until his death in 1964.

Zanetti received the award from the Panathlon International Club of Bergamo, which each year chooses a Serie A player who has distinguished himself for not receiving suspensions during the previous season, and for showing respect for the rules and opponents through his excellent performances on both a technical and disciplinary level.

"I am proud to receive this acknowledgement because I am convinced that you can go far by being a good person," said Zanetti. "Each one of us has his own character, I always try to be correct on the pitch so as not to give the wrong message to the smaller fans. When we're on the pitch we should always remember that the kids are watching us. We have to be an example for them."

Zanetti is the third player to win the Turani Prize after Sandro Mazzola in 1967 and Giacinto Facchetti in 1970. "Giacinto was the first person to welcome me when I arrived at Inter, and the first person to explain to me what this club was," said Zanetti. "He was an example, he will always be with us."

APPIANO GENTILE - From president Massimo Moratti, José Mourinho and his staff, the team and all the fans, many happy returns to Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroonian striker, born on 10 March 1981 in Nkon, celebrates his 29th birthday today.

MILAN - Inter Primavera's midweek regular season trip to Chievo, initially postponed from 7 November, has been put back again following the second postponement in December due to adverse weather conditions in Desenzano del Garda, Brescia province. The new date for the Week 7 match is Wednesday 24 March.

APPIANO GENTILE - José Mourinho's Nerazzurri were back to work on Inter's 102nd anniversary to commence their preparations for the first of two Serie A trips to Sicily: the first against Catania at the Stadio Massimino on Friday 12 March and the second against Palermo at the Stadio Renzo Barbera on Saturday 20 March.