The two-legged derby tie was finely balanced with little to separate the two teams, but Milan edged it on the away goals rule.

The first match at their shared San Siro stadium ended goalless, while the return leg, in which Inter were the 'home' team, ended in a 1-1 draw. Milan qaulified for the final in Manchester where they beat Juventus on penalties.

"The thing that is so difficult to stomach and annoys me the most is that we didn't lose either match and yet still didn't reach the final," said Inter president Massimo Moratti.

Inter defender Ivan Cordoba feels equally hurt about missing out on the Old Trafford showpiece.

"I'm trying not to think about it because it makes me think about how close we were. There's still great regret," said the 27-year-old Colombian international.

Inter have not conceded a single goal in Serie A, but have lost ground on their championship rivals after two successive goalless draws.

While the defence has held firm, the strikers have been misfiring, scoring just three times in four matches, so the return of Christian Vieri could not be better timed.

Vieri, last season's leading Serie A goalscorer, returned to action in Tuesday's Champions League match at home to Dynamo Kiev after missing the previous four matches due to an ankle injury.

And the 30-year-old international took no time at all in hitting the net, coming off the bench midway through the second-half to head a last minute goal to give Inter a late 2-1 win over the Ukranians.

The victory took Inter to the top of Group B with maximum points from their two matches.

Vieri is expected to start against Milan but defender Marco Materazzi has been ruled out after failing to recover from an injury to his left thigh.

European champions Milan were held to a 0-0 draw away to Celta Vigo in the Champions League on Wednesday which was enough to keep them top of Group H.

Milan, along with Roma and Juve, are tied for first place in Serie A with all three teams on 10 points from four matches.

Juventus, 2-1 winners at Olympiakos on Tuesday, welcome Bologna to the Delle Alpi stadium boosted by striker Alessandro Del Piero's decision to prolong his stay with the reigning Italian champions.

The 28-year-old Italy international signed a four-year extension on Thursday that will keep him at the Turin club until June 2008.

Local councillors in the capital have given the go-ahead for Roma's fixture at Siena to be shown live on a giant screen close to the city centre in a bid to prevent ticketless fans from travelling.

Only 900 tickets have been made available to Roma fans for the match at Siena's 10,000 capacity Artemio Franchi stadium. Around 5,000 supporters were expected to head for the medieval Tuscan town.