Euro watch: Milan Qualify

Milan qualified for the Champions League in drab fashion tonight in Belarus securing a 1-1 draw with Bate. Zlatan Ibrahimovic put Milan ahead with a smart counter attacking move from Milan but it was not enough as the home side rallied in the second half to level through a penalty on 55 minutes. Milan were wasteful with their chances in the first half and have relinquished their top spot in Group H to European Champions Barcelona. They will now need to beat Barcelona in the San Siro in the next round to recapture top spot. Clearly, this will be no easy task but perhaps it will give Milan the right attitude in terms of playing to actually win the game, rather than play for a draw had they still been level on points come round five.

Tomorrow night sees more difficult encounters for the Italian clubs. Inter take on Lille at home and they will look to move up to nine points in the group so they can focus on more pressing domestic troubles away at Genoa on Sunday. It is vital that they win and qualify as group winners given to avoid tougher fixtures come the knock out rounds.

Napoli however have Bayern Munich to contend with away from home and with Manchester City closing in on the top two both Bayern and Napoli will see this as an opportunity to take control of the group. This will be tough for Napoli, although not much should be read into their defeat to Catania at the weekend. Walter Mazzari has stated today that Napoli will try to impose their game on Bayern and this is refreshing to hear, and if they adopt their smart counter attacking style that they did against Manchester City and AC Milan this season then they will be tough to contend with. They key will be not going down too early and frustrating the Bavarians whose great form has already slipped somewhat with a recent Bundesliga defeat. Difficult? Very much so but not impossible.

Attention will turn to the Europe League on Thursday night where Udinese head to Madrid to take on Athletico. Having beaten them 2-0 in the last round Udinese will be confident of qualification but a defeat here would give hope to the others in the group. Given their great form this season it will be hoped that Di Natale will start to provide a threat to the Athletico backline.

Lazio however have not mirrored their domestic form in Europe and have only two draws to show for their efforts so far. The game against Zurich at home is a must win then and one hopes that they put out a squad that is capable of delivering this in emphatic fashion. Mirslav Klose is set to be on the bench, and that is not a good start when one thinks how good he has been this season.