Thigh strain rules Vieira out of Valencia match

MILAN - INTER Milan midfielder Patrick Vieira will not play in today's Champions League first-leg match against Valencia after aggravating a thigh strain in training.

The French international, who missed Inter's 1-0 win over Cagliari at the weekend because of the injury, pulled up 20 minutes into the team's training session yesterday.

'He was fine this morning. In training, however, he made an odd movement and aggravated the injury,' Inter coach Roberto Mancini said.

'It was pointless to risk making it worse, so I decided not to select him.'

Defender Ivan Cordoba has also warned his teammates that Inter's excellent record against Valencia will count for nothing.

Inter knocked the Spaniards out of the 2001-02 Uefa Cup quarter-finals, and then the last eight of the 2002-03 Champions League.

They also won 5-1 in Spain in the group stages of the 2004-05 Champions League.

But Cordoba is aware of the dangers of revelling in past results.

'The past meetings might be in our favour, but they don't count for much because each match has its own story,' said the Colombian.

The Italian league leaders have not lost for 29 matches in all competitions.

And they have lost just once at home to Spanish clubs in 15 European games.

Valencia, 2-1 winners over holders Barcelona in the Spanish Primera Liga on Sunday, have struggled in Italy - with just one win in nine matches.

About 1,800 seats - out of the permitted 36,000 capacity - will be reserved for visiting fans at the San Siro, which can seat over 80,000.

This is because the stadium has yet to comply fully with security measures introduced by the government, after rioting fans killed a policeman in Sicily earlier this month.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE