Milan suffer in victory as Barça rest

FC Barcelona were denied the chance to play at the weekend because of severe weather conditions in Spain but were not too downhearted, while Wednesday's visitors AC Milan did get a full 90 minutes on Saturday and were delighted with a 3-1 win at FC Messina Peloro. That victory on their travels has moved the Rossoneri to within three points of Italy's leaders Juventus.

Sevilla FC P-P FC Barcelona

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard was far from disappointed to see his team's game against Sevilla FC postponed on Sunday evening after a torrential rainstorm flooded the pitch at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. The Dutch coach was relieved his players were granted some extra rest, explaining: "The only thing I can say is that it is good that we did not use any energy."

Rijkaard had already decided to rest Ronaldinho before making the trip to Seville after the Brazilian international reported a bruised thigh, while thigh injuries to Oleguer Presas and Henrik Larsson also forced their omission from the squad, along with Xavi Hernández (knee) and Lionel Messi (hamstring). Finding a new date for the fixture could prove to be difficult. In addition to this week's commitments there is also a full league programme the following midweek and, should either Barcelona and Sevilla progress to their respective finals of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup they may have to apply for permission to play the game after the official season has finished.

Despite the possible problems with rearranging the fixture, Barcelona president Joan Laporta supported the decision by the referee, Fernando Teixiera, to call off the match: "It was the most logical thing to do," he said. "It would have been impossible to play on the wings and would have been dangerous for the players." Barcelona have an eight-point lead at the top with a game in hand on nearest rivals Valencia CF.

FC Messina Peloro 1-3 AC Milan

Milan came from behind to earn an important away win at Messina on Saturday. Goals from Marek Jankulovski, Gennaro Gattuso and Alberto Gilardino cancelled out Giuseppe Sculli's opener in a hard-fought game that saw Messina finish with just eight of their players left on the field. Sculli, Antonio Noverino and Salvatore Aronica were all shown red cards while Clarence Seedorf was also dismissed for the visitors after a dispute with Aronica in the last minute.

Milan's win could yet prove crucial to the title race as Juventus succumbed to their sixth Serie A draw and are only three points clear of the Rossoneri. However, Alessandro Nesta, Kaká and Massimo Ambrosini, Kaká's replacement on Saturday, all picked up knocks and could need treatment ahead of the trip to Barcelona. Coach Carlo Ancelotti was already without Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Costacurta (flu), while club captain Paolo Maldini stayed at home to recover from a minor muscular problem. Playmaker Andrea Pirlo, meanwhile, missed the match through suspension while concerns about Cafu's ankle subsequently proved unfounded.

Ancelotti deployed his strongest available lineup - with the exception of Rui Costa, who replaced Pirlo - and was pleased with the result, although not the injury developments. "The race for the Serie A title is not over yet," said Ancelotti. "We still have three games to finish top. Our target is to win them all and to do everything we can. At the moment, I cannot talk about the conditition of the players that picked up injuries but Kaká was hit hard. We will attack against Barcelona as we did during the first-leg game."