Pro Eleven Headline News
Milan loses ground on Inter
AC Milan has been held 2-2 at struggling Torino, leaving city rivals Inter Milan three points clear at the top of Italy's Serie A.
Torino's Alessandro Rosina scored a 78th minute penalty to earn the hosts a draw after Ronaldinho had put Milan 2-1 up with a spectacular free kick in the 34th.
Milan's Brazil striker Alexandre Pato had controlled a Gennaro Gattuso pass and thumped the ball home in the 29th to equalise shortly after Torino's Roberto Stellone opened the scoring with a glancing header.
Second-placed Milan has 27 points from 13 games, while champion Inter has 30 after the 1-0 win over third-placed Juventus at the San Siro.
"We should control the game better when we are in front," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti told Sky Television.
"The game was too open. We attacked, they counter-attacked, which was not ideal given that we were ahead and could have more cover."
Napoli is level with Juventus on 24 points after being held 2-2 at home by Cagliari.
AS Roma continued its return to form after a miserable start to the season with a 3-0 win at Lecce courtesy of first-half goals by Mirko Vucinic and Juan, plus captain Francesco Totti's delightful chip four minutes after the break.
Lazio is joint fifth with Fiorentina after grabbing a 1-1 home draw with Genoa.
Getafe halt Barca's nine-game winning run 
Getafe ended Barcelona's nine-game winning run but were denied an away win at the Camp Nou by Seydou Keita's second-half equalizer for the Spanish Primera leaders on Sunday.
Keita headed in Daniel Alves' cross to the far post in the 72nd minute to stretch Barca's unbeaten run in all competitions to 17 games.
The Catalan giants lead the standings by three points from arch rivals and reigning champions Real Madrid, who are on 26 points.
Villarreal follow on 25. Valencia and Sevilla are both on 24.
Getafe's Manu del Moral put his side ahead in the 19th minute as he curled a 20-meter shot beyond goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
With Lionel Messi watching from the bench, Barcelona struggled to respond with Bojan Krkic unable to find any rhythm along the right flank and the usually reliable Xavi Hernandez also misfiring.
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o hit the crossbar from long range in the 39th minute, before coach Pep Guardiola brought on Thierry Henry for Krkic in the 56th.
After Keita equalized, Henry and Carles Puyol both headed wide from close range as Barcelona searched for a winner.
Getafe goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri also worked wonders to touch Gerard Pique's header on to the crossbar in the 80th.
Earlier, Javier Barkero's injury-time penalty gave Numancia a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid.
Barkero scored in the fifth minute of added time after Gorka Brit was brought down inside the area after getting tangled up with defenders Luis Perea and John Heitinga.
Atletico, who have 18 points, went ahead through Diego Forlan's 35th-minute goal -- the Uruguay striker's third in two games. CNN
Italy draw Brazil in Confederation Cup
World champions Italy were drawn with Brazil in the same group for next year's Confederation Cup but European champions Spain were handed much softer options for the two-week event in South Africa.
Italy and Brazil will play each other in the final match of Group B of the World Cup test event in June.
African champions Egypt and the United States are the other two sides in the group.
Spain, who won Euro 2008 in June, were drawn in Group A with South Africa, Asian champions Iraq and New Zealand.
"It's an interesting draw with a different mixture of styles," said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque. "We will have to be respectful of the quality of the other teams."
Egypt coach Hassan Shehata said his side's tough draw would help them qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.
"The chance to have our players together for a long time and to play against top teams will help our players immensely. We find that Egyptians traditionally play a lot better after they have been together for a long time," he said.
South Africa open the tournament at Ellis Park in Johannesburg against Iraq on June 14.
The second game for the hosts is against traditional rugby rivals New Zealand. The two teams last met in a football international 60 years ago.
"We are renewing the team and at this point in time we believe we have found about 80 percent of the players for the team. The Confederations Cup will let us see how much we have improved," said South Africa coach Joel Santana.
The tournament is being played at four of the 10 World Cup venues - Ellis Park in Johannesburg; Bloemfontein, Pretoria and Rustenburg.
The final is at Ellis Park on June 28.
The tournament is made up of the six continental champions plus World Cup winners Italy and hosts South Africa. Brazil are defending champions from Germany in 2005. Reuters
Yossi and Elano Swap
Unhappy stars Yossi Benayoun and Elano are set for a January swap.
Liverpool’s Benayoun has warned Rafa Benitez that he will look for a move if he does not start more games.
And Elano, 27, has publicly criticised Manchester City boss Mark Hughes — an outburst which earned him a fine and reprimand.
But both could be put out of their misery as the two clubs consider an exchange deal.
City value their Brazilian attacking midfielder slightly higher than the 28-year-old Benayoun and would want a cash or player makeweight.
We understand Liverpool might be willing to throw 20-year-old left- back Stephen Darby into the deal.
Elano was hit with a £40,000 rap after expressing his disappointment at not being selected for a couple of games earlier in the season. And Hughes would be willing to let him go.
His only reservation is that Elano is part of the Brazilian clan at Eastlands and his departure might not go down well with Robinho and Jo.
Meanwhile, Kop boss Benitez is desperate to unleash his deadliest weapons for the first time in 10 games this week.
Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres have not started a match together since the victory over Manchester City on October 5 but the duo will be reunited against Marseille in Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
Benitez says the manner his team has coped without one of the most productive partnerships in Europe bodes well for the rest of the season.
He said: “Last season we saw how good the understanding between the two of them was.
“But this year we have only been able to see snippets of this for different reasons, like injuries.
“Hopefully it’s going to be different for the rest of this season, starting with the Champions League game.
“I think Steven will be available for this and then I hope finally we will have both of these players available for a long time.”
