Football briefs: Georgios Samaras | Alberto Mallenco

Published on 17/02/2013 01:10

CELTIC striker Georgios Samaras last night revealed he expects to be back in action within a week.

The Greek missed the Champions League defeat to Juventus last Tuesday with a hamstring injury. He watched from the stands and was left disappointed as Celtic went down to the Serie A leaders. But the former Manchester City forward will definitely be fit for the return leg in Italy. Samaras said: “I was very disappointed I could not play in the game. I think that I will be ready in a week’s time.

“You have to remember that we are a young team. And those players will gain a lot of experience by playing in the Champions League at such a young age.

“We made mistakes and unfortunately, Juventus punished us.”

Under-fire spanish ref gets el clasico

Controversial referee Alberto Mallenco has been handed an El Clasico game by the Spanish FA despite his performance at Parkhead.

Mallenco, pictured, enraged Neil Lennon by not awarding penalties to Celtic during the Champions League loss to Juventus despite what looked like wrestling by Juve players in the box. So outraged was the Celtic manager that he instructed his club to send a DVD to UEFA highlighting the ref’s performance.

However, in Spain he is seen as one of their best officials. And he’s been rewarded by being given the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at the Nou Camp later this month between Barcelona and Real Madrid. It’s the third time in just two years that the Spanish FA have awarded an El Clasico game to Mallenco who is already on the list for the World Cup in Brazil next year.