Marcel Desailly's European ban has been reduced from three games to two by UEFA. The Chelsea defender was originally handed the longer ban for elbowing Fernando Morientes in the club's Champions League semi-final first leg at Monaco.
But UEFA's appeals body have looked again at the incident after Chelsea's appeal and decided to cut the suspension to two games, claiming "Desailly did not commit an act of deliberate assault".
The Frenchman will nevertheless miss Chelsea's semi-final second leg, and the final should the English club get there.
AS Roma sporting director Franco Baldini has confirmed that his club have opened talks with Chelsea over the possible sale of defender Walter Samuel to the Champions League semi-finalists in the summer.
Monaco suffered a double injury scare ahead of next week's game with Chelsea as they won in Nice last night. Jerome Rothen and Dado Prso both left the field before half-time as Didier Deschamps' side came back from a goal down to maintain their French title challenge with a 2-1 win.
Neither injury - Rothen went off clutching his groin while Prso took a knock to the foot - looked particularly serious, but will concern Deschamps ahead of Wednesday's trip to Stamford Bridge.
Ludovic Giuly netted the Monaco winner after Prso had cancelled out Cedric Varrault's opener.
Bolton boss Sam Allardyce has admitted his club's chances of landing Brazilian World Cup star Rivaldo are fading. Allardyce hopes to know by Monday whether the 32-year-old has finally decided on a future at the Reebok Stadium. But he said that news of Rivaldo's return to Brazil to mull over the move with friends and family was discouraging.
"I am possibly less encouraged because I wasn't expecting him to go straight back to Brazil," Allardyce said "Obviously he needs to talk to his family and other representatives back in Brazil because for Rivaldo it has to be the right decision this time.
"He has not accepted our offer like some people have suggested. He has not said yes or no yet and until we hear from him at the end of the weekend, we will not know one way or the other."
Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren has revealed he will look to sign Alan Smith from Leeds in the summer.McClaren tried to sign Smith's Leeds United strike-partner Mark Viduka in the January transfer window and hinted he may try to pair the duo up at the Riverside.
"I've seen the stories in the papers and Alan is a player we certainly admire," McClaren said. "There is bound to be plenty of interest if and when a striker of his undoubted quality becomes available. We will be expressing our interest.
"There are lots of players we would like to bring here and we've got a lot of admiration for Smith and Viduka. There's going to be lots of speculation as the summer draws near."
Ottmar Hitzfeld will leave Bayern Munich next year with his profile as one of the most respected coaches in the sport intact. The 55-year-old, the most successful German coach at club level, said yesterday he would turn his back on the club at the end of the 2004-2005 season.
Since Hitzfeld joined Bayern in 1998, they have won four Bundesliga titles, lifted the German Cup twice and won the Champions League in 2001. This season will probably be a disappointment by his own high standards, with Bayern facing a struggle to retain their Bundesliga title after making early exits from the Champions League and the German Cup.
Fulham defender Zat Knight has been banned for three games by the English FA. Knight was punished for appearing to headbutt Blackburn's Jonathan Stead during Rovers' victory at Loftus Road earlier this month.
Portsmouth have denied they have any interest in signing Nigerian defender Taribo West. West, who is set to be released by Partizan Belgrade at the end of the season, was reported to be in talks with the club after visiting the training ground this week.
West actually spent time on trial at Fratton Park last season and played under Pompey assistant boss Jim Smith for six months at Derby in 2001.
Former Newcastle striker Daniel Cordone has been banned for two years by the Argentinian FA after failing his second drugs test in less than a year. The San Lorenzo player was given a three-month suspension in April 2003 after testing positive for the banned substance tetrahydrocannabinol, which is found in marijuana.
Aston Villa have been given a major boost with the news that leading scorer Juan Pablo Angel and England midfielder Gareth Barry have both opened contract talks with the club.
Coleraine and Glentoran will do battle in the Irish Cup final today at Windsor Park (BBC 1, kick-off: 3 p.m.).
The teams also met in the final last year, with Coleraine coming out on top.
