AFP/Milan


On-loan Barcelona defender Martin Montoya is free to leave Inter Milan but the Nerazzurri won’t be making any new signings in January, coach Roberto Mancini said.
Montoya admitted his reluctance at joining Inter on a two-year loan deal in July, when he said he was “sad to be leaving” the Spanish giants after it became clear his first-team opportunities would be limited. And six months on, the Barca right-back is stuck in an impasse. The 24-year-old had hoped to relaunch his career but has made only two appearances for the Nerazzurri so far.
Having made his only other appearance in a pre-season defeat to Sassuolo, Montoya played on Tuesday as Inter secured their place in the Italian Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Cagliari at the San Siro.
Asked about the player’s future at the club, Mancini said: “I don’t know if Montoya will leave in January. He’s played and shown he can do the job. Things can change very quickly in football. He’s a good footballer and a good lad. It’s up to him if he wants to accept this situation or look somewhere else where he might play more regularly.”
Inter are top of Serie A with a four-point lead over Fiorentina and Napoli, while champions Juventus and Roma are six and seven points adrift respectively. Juve’s four-year grip on the league title is under threat this season, but Mancini has ruled out recuiting during the January transfer window.  
Inter host Lazio, who are 16 points off the pace in 12th, in their final league game of the year on Sunday.

Bulgaria’s Litex expelled after ref protest
Bulgarian football side Litex Lovech were expelled yesterday from the country’s top league after players walked off the pitch during a match last weekend in protest against the refereeing, the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) said. Ten-man Litex were leading Levski Sofia 1-0 at the end of the first half of their game in the championship’s 20th round, when referee Georgy Yordanov sent off a second Litex player and gave Levski a penalty.
The decision prompted an angry response from Litex’s sporting manager Stoycho Stoilov and president Trifon Popov, who ordered the players to leave the pitch.
Popov was handed a 15,000-leva (7,600-euro, $8,300) fine and the club must also pay another 20,000 leva, but the players themselves were not sanctioned.
“This was the only possible decision in line with the disciplinary rules,” the BFU’s disciplinary committee chair Yuriy Kuchev told journalists. Before the expulsion, which Litex can appeal within a week, the four-times Bulgarian champions were fourth in the table with 33 points from 19 games.

Materazzi’s Chennaiyin to clash with Zico’s Goa in Indian final
Marco Materazzi’s Chennaiyin FC will take on FC Goa, managed by Brazilian legend Zico, in the final of the second edition of the Indian Super League, despite losing yesterday.
The World Cup winner’s side went down 2-1 away to defending champions Atletico de Kolkata in the second leg of their semi-final but progressed to Sunday’s showdown 4-2 on aggregate. Chennaiyin took a 3-0 advantage into yesterday’s game at the Salt Lake Stadium but goals from Serbian Dejan Lekic and English striker Iain Hume gave Kolkata a glimmer of hope before a Fikru Teferra strike in stoppage time ended any chances of an upset. Goa were waiting to discover who their opponents in the final would be after dispatching Roberto Carlos’s Delhi Dynamos 3-0 on Tuesday, overturning a first-leg deficit. Goals from Spanish midfielder Jofre, and one each from Brazilians Rafael Coelho and Dudu in the second leg swung the tie in favour of Zico’s men.
Chennaiyin and Goa will both be bidding to be crowned ISL champions for the first time when they clash on Sunday. Goa head into the final as favourites by virtue of the fact they finished top of the standings.