Holder AS Roma will meet Inter Milan in the Italian Cup final for the fourth consecutive season after drawing 1-1 at Catania on Thursday to progress 2-1 on aggregate. Midfielder Alberto Aquilani converted a penalty on 27 minutes to put Roma in command of the semifinal, second leg before Cristian Silvestri headed in a free kick unmarked for the hosts two minutes later. Inter, which leads Roma by three points at the top of Serie A, won 2-0 at Lazio in their semifinal second leg on Wednesday to reach the May 24 final 2-0 on aggregate. Inter and Roma are assured of a Champions League place next season so Italy's third UEFA Cup spot will now go to the seventh-placed team in Serie A rather than the Cup winners. Atletico beats Espanyol In Madrid, Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan scored first-half goals Thursday to bring fourth-place Atletico Madrid a 2-0 victory over Espanyol in the Spanish league. Atletico's win at Espanyol's Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium strengthened its hopes of a first appearance in the Champions League since 1997 and boosted the chances of its Mexican coach Javier Aguirre remaining in charge for a third season. Atletico has 61 points with two matches of the season remaining. FC Barcelona is third with 64, while Sevilla is fifth, with 58. The top four teams will compete in Europe's top club competition next season. Already certain of a Champions League berth are recently proclaimed champion Real Madrid, which has 81 points, and runner-up Villarreal, with 71. EU against FIFA plan In Brussels, the European Parliament on Thursday called on FIFA to scrap its plan to reintroduce limits on foreign players in club competitions. The world soccer federation has advocated a new regulation in which a team's 11-man starting lineup should include six players from the club's nation. That defies the 1995 Bosman ruling which said that discrimination on the grounds of nationality within European soccer is illegal. The EU's employment law upholds the principle of freedom of movement of workers, which allows EU soccer players to have equal status regardless of which member nation they play in. The European soccer federation, UEFA, advocates a system different from the one FIFA wants, seeking to keep local flavor within club teams while adhering to the Bosman law.
