Doctors have said McClellan will never fight again, but that his long-term prognosis is uncertain.. ITALIAN FOOTBALL Juventus are firm favourites to take the Serie A title for the first time in nine years, following a 2-0 victory over the defending champions, Milan, writes Catherine Riley. Goals from Fabrizio Ravanelli, who scored on his national debut against Estonia 10 days ago, and Gianluca Vialli leave the Turin side on 58 points, nine clear of their nearest challengers, Parma, with nine matches to play. Milan's surrender of the title to their probable successors was further soured by the 85th minute sending-off of their Croat midfielder, Zvonimir Boban. Parma lost ground on Juventus after an opportunist goal by Abel Balbo in the first half brought them a 1-0 defeat by third-placed Roma.Giuseppe Bergomi celebrated his 600th appearance for Internazionale by scoring the winner against relegation-doomed Reggiana, taking his side into seventh position, surprisingly their highest of the season.Fiorentina, one place above Inter, kept up their bid for a place in Europe with a convincing 4-0 home win over bottom club Brescia. Serie A's top marksman, Gabriel Batistuta, took his season's tally to 20.Sampdoria suffered a setback in their preparations for Thursday's first leg of the European Cup-Winners' Cup semi-final with Arsenal at Highbury, losing 2-0 to Napoli. Benito Carbone and Massimo Agostini both scored in the first half, as the Naples side won their fourth home game in a row..

EUROPEAN ROUND-UP Nantes held on to their unbeaten record in the French league with yesterday's 1-1 draw at Lens, but they had three men sent off in the last four minutes, writes Rupert Metcalf. Japhet N'Doram of Nantes and Lens' Frederic Dehu were expelled in the 86th minute after a brawl, Christian Karembeu appeared to slap Eric Sikora after his 90th-minute equaliser for Lens, and then Reynald Pedros saw red in injury time for dissent. Eddy Capron had scored for Nantes, who lead the league by 10 points from Lyon.In Spain, Real Zaragoza, who meet Chelsea in the last four of the Cup- Winners' Cup on Thursday, enjoyed a 3-0 home win over Real Betis. The Argentinian, Juan Esnaider, struck the first on the half hour; Francisco Higuera made the game safe with a pair of second-half goals.Tenerife, playing with 10 men for 65 minutes, came from behind to beat Barcelona 2-1 with an 86th-minute goal, which allowed Real Madrid to increase their lead to six points after a 1-1 draw at Compostela.The Portuguese champions, Benfica, are losing their grip on the title after their second successive loss to lowly opposition: 4-1 at Farense.. BY MIKE ROWBOTTOM Dionicio Ceron's claim to be the world's best marathon runner appeared irresistible yesterday as he retained his Nutrasweet London Marathon title with a scarcely believable late surge. Victory had appeared within the grasp of Portugal's Antonio Pinto, who led by over a minute with five miles to go. But the Mexican, accompanied by Australia's Commonweath champion, Steve Moneghetti, chased him down with the conviction of a champion and accelerated away on the final bend past Buckingham Palace to become the first man to win consecutively in London.His time of 2hr 08min 30sec was the second fastest time in the event's history, behind Steve Jones's 1985 record of 2:08:13. Although Paul Evans did himself proud by finishing fifth in a personal best of 2:10:31, Britain had no one in Ceron's league.It was the same story in the women's race, where Liz McColgan, competing at the highest level for the first time since the 1993 London race, was never a convincing contender.

Courage is something she has never lacked, and she hung on grimly for fifth place. Ahead, Poland's Malgorzata Sobanska, in only her sixth marathon, withstood repeated surges from the Portuguese European champion, Manuela Machado, to win in 2:27:43.McColgan confessed to having mixed feelings afterwards "I was disappointed with my time," she said. "But I'm just pleased that I have finished the race after all my injury problems."I felt much better at the end than I did here two years ago I was strong and relaxed all the way. But it's no use being strong and relaxed if you are in fifth or sixth place I need some good track races to get some speed in my legs You can't expect it to happen overnight. This is really just a first step for me in a long build-up for Atlanta."The faint sound of singing momentarily undermined the press conference as the screens which had relayed the race began to show Songs of Praise. "And in earth's darkest place let there be light" read the caption beneath the picture - a sign for McColgan, perhaps - but all present resisted the opportunity to join in.Britain's selectors have a problem for this summer's World Championship marathon. With Richard Nerurkar already chosen, two places remain, and Evans is set on running the 10,000 metres rather than the marathon in Gothenburg.