Italian trio seek perfect ten

Perfect ten
Udinese Calcio, Parma FC and S.S. Lazio will all be in first round second-leg action this evening, with each hopeful of eventually making it ten Italian triumphs and in turn leaving Germany and England lagging behind on six successes apiece. If one of the trio does go all the way to next May's final in Lisbon, they will have to come through the new group stage, an innovation introduced this season.

Former winners
The winners of tonight's 40 ties will be split at next Tuesday's draw into eight pools of five, with each team playing two away and two home fixtures. While Parma, the 1995 and 1999 UEFA Cup winners, and Lazio, beaten finalists in 1998, will have every confidence of making it through, Udinese face a tricky tie against Panionios NFC of Greece.

Spalletti expects
Udinese were beaten 3-1 in Athens a fortnight ago but will know a 2-0 victory at their Friuli stadium tonight will suffice thanks to Giampiero Pinzi's away goal in the first leg. "I'm sure my players understand the importance of this game and I expect a positive answer on the pitch," said coach Luciano Spalletti. "The match will be difficult and everybody will need to give everything in order to qualify."

Attacking emphasis
However, Spalletti has a concern over the fitness of striker Vincenzo Iaquinta but is still set to field a strong three-man forward line in David Di Michele, Antonio Di Natale and Dino Fava. For Panionios, Alexandros Tziolis will be absent after his dismissal two weeks ago, while Andreas Lagonikakis will replace the injured Evagelos Tsiolis in midfield. In attack, Evagelos Mantzios could come in for Lubomir Meszaros.

All change
There will also be changes galore for Parma who take a 3-2 lead to SK Maribor. Alberto Gilardino, Domenico Morfeo, Daniele Bonera, Cesare Bovo, Mark Bresciano and Fabio Simplicio have not made the trip to Slovenia, while Gianluca Berti could replace No1 Sébastien Frey in goal. "We have to qualify and I'm sure we will do it despite playing with several young players," coach Silvio Baldini said.

Di Canio bow
Finally, after a 3-0 win at FC Metalurh Donetsk in the first leg, Lazio are almost certain of progressing at the expense of the Ukrainian side. The 36-year-old Paolo Di Canio is expected to play his first game in Europe for the Rome club but the striker is not worried. "I don't fear anything when I wear the shirt with the eagle on the chest," he said. Brazilian winger César is still injured, while coach Domenico Caso could rest several other key men.