Conti faces tough league debut against Milan

New Roma coach Bruno Conti could not face a tougher task for his first Serie A match on the bench at the Olympic stadium with champions and joint leaders Milan the visitors this weekend.

Conti took over the reins at Roma on Monday following the departure of Luigi Del Neri in the wake of last week's 3-0 defeat to Cagliari which left the club struggling for a place in the Champions League next season.

The former Roma player and 1982 Italian World Cup winner had an early taste of his task with Wednesday's Italian Cup quarter-final, second leg match, which the Romans won on penalties against Fiorentina.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, who was a team-mate of Conti's at Roma, has to pick his side up after a second-string team were knocked out of the Cup with a 4-1 defeat to Udinese, also on Wednesday.

Tomorrow evening's game will be a different matter, however, with Milan arriving on the back of seven successive league wins.

"It is a going to be a tough game. They have a new coach and we have just come from a disappointing 4-1 defeat," said Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.

Milan will be without central defender Alessandro Nesta who suffered a bad cut to his foot in last week's win over Sampdoria and European Footballer of the Year Andriy Shevchenko, who has yet to return after an operation on a fractured cheekbone.

Roma will also be weakened with Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi and Greek centre half Traianos Dellas both suspended although Romanian defender Cristian Chivu returned from his lengthy injury lay-off in midweek and should be ready to start.

Milan won both their encounters with Roma last season, vital victories on the way to their title win.

Other matches...

Chievo Vs Brescia - A vital match for both struggling sides with Chievo's controversial defeat to Juve last week, their fifth in a row, leaving them hovering above the drop zone. Brescia will be without the suspended Luigi Di Biagio.

Inter Vs Fiorentina - With a 16-point gap between Inter and leaders Milan and Juventus, Roberto Mancini's side are clearly focused on the Champions League now and come into the game after their 3-1 second-leg triumph against champions Porto.

In contrast, Fiorentina's midweek exit from the Italian Cup leaves them with no other aim this season than avoiding the drop.

Juventus Vs Reggina - Pavel Nedved should make his return to the Juve midfield after being kept out since suffering concussion in the first-leg of Juve's Champions League tie with Real Madrid.

With a busy schedule of games coming up coach Fabio Capello may opt to rotate his side but he will be conscious of the 2-1 defeat to Reggina earlier this season.

Livorno Vs Cagliari - Both sides go into this mid-table meeting in confident mood after Cagliari crushed Roma 3-0 last week and Livorno enjoyed a 3-2 victory at Brescia.

Messina Vs Bologna - Little to choose between the two mid-table sides although Mes-sina have won their last two games and Bologna have drawn four of their last six outings.

Parma Vs Palermo - Palermo need to recover from last week's 5-1 mauling at home to Udinese while Parma are on a high after their UEFA Cup win over Seville in midweek.

Luca Toni returns to the Palermo attack after serving a one-match suspension.

Sampdoria Vs Atalanta - Despite their defeat to Milan last week Sampdoria are still on course for a place in the Champions League qualifiers and will expect to dismiss bottom club Atalanta.

Sampdoria are unbeaten in their last nine games while Atalanta have yet to record an away win.

Siena Vs Lazio - Lazio's only other visit to Siena came last season when they fell to a 3-0 defeat in Tuscany.

Siena have Croatian Igor Tudor back from suspension while Lazio are without goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi and striker Paolo Di Canio through injuries.

Udinese Vs Lecce - This promises to be an entertaining encounter with Udinese's 5-1 hammering of Palermo last week restoring their hopes of making a push for a Champions League spot while Lecce are a constant threat on the break.