I feel like a loser, admits Balotelli

The Milan star says he is devastated at not being able to face Spain in the Confederations Cup semi-final following a strained thigh muscle

Italy striker Mario Balotelli says he "feels like a loser" after injury has deprived him of the opportunity to gain "revenge" over Spain ahead of Thursday's Confederations Cup semi-final.

The Milan forward was sent home from Brazil on Monday after sustaining a muscle injury which is likely to sideline him for a number of weeks.

And, speaking to Sky Sport Italia, the Rossoneri star expressed his disappointment having missed the chance to enact "revenge" over la Roja following last summer's 4-0 defeat in the final of the European Championship.

"I feel like a loser having to leave this way. I would have liked to have stayed on with my team-mates, but we have the Champions League playoff round with Milan, so I need to recover for that."

His departure means Alberto Gilardino is likely to deputise, and Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio believes the introduction of the Bologna forward will compensate for the absence of the 22-year-old.

He told a press conference: "We will miss Mario because he is a great champion.

"He has matured and it has shown in this Confederations Cup.

"Surely he wanted to play a part in this kind of revenge and we are sad that we will not have him, but we do have players like Gilardino who is very experienced so we are not worried."

Meanwhile, Marchisio, who has featured in all three of his country's games in the competition, believes the Azzurri will go into the clash hopeful of staging an upset after holding the world champions to a 1-1 draw in the Group C curtain-raiser of last summer's European Championship.

"We have to be as good as we were when we faced them in our first game of the European Championship," he added.

"We made it difficult for the world champions so we will not take to the field thinking we have already been beaten on Thursday.

"Spain are the best and they have proved that by winning everything possible, but we happily matched them at times last year and we proved that."

The clash is scheduled to kick off at 21:00 CET.

Balotelli's time is now, says Prandelli

The Azzurri coach believes that patience has paid off for the former Manchester City man, and revealed his desire to see an Italy-Argentina friendly to celebrate the new Pope

AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli is entering the prime of his career, according to Italy boss Cesare Prandelli.

The forward netted three times in two games in the international break, and has scored seven in his six appearances for the Rossoneri since arriving from Manchester City on January's transfer deadline day.

Prandelli believes the mercurial attacker is beginning to realise his undoubted potential after spending too long in the headlines for the wrong reasons in recent seasons.

"When you are dealing with a talent like this, you just need patience," Prandelli told reporters on Wednesday.

"The moment eventually comes when the talent has to take on his share of the responsibility and stand on his own feet. This is the right moment for Balotelli.

"I have to compliment him on his relaxed approach, his belief and his quality."

Prandelli added his hope that a friendly match could be arranged with Argentina, to commemorate the inauguration of Pope Francis I.

"I would love to be able to organise an Italy-Argentina match. Not only would it be a challenge between great teams, but also a tribute to the Pope," the former Fiorentina head coach said.

"It would be wonderful for both teams to meet with the Pope and then go to the stadium in one big team bus, all together.

"I have faced all the big world teams and Lionel Messi’s men are the only ones I am missing so far."

Klopp enjoys 'extraordinary moment' after Dortmund triumph

The BVB trainer was delighted to see off Shakhtar in the second leg of their knockout tie, while midfielder Mario Gotze also heaped praise on his team's performance

Jurgen Klopp could not hide his joy after Borussia Dortmund advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals by defeating Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 in the second leg of their round of 16 clash.

Dortmund dominated the encounter at Signal Iduna Park from start to finish, with goals from Felipe Santana, Mario Gotze and Jakub Blaszczykowski sending the Bundesliga champions through to the last eight by a 5-2 aggregate scoreline.

And the quality of the performance was not lost on Klopp, who told Sky Sport: “This is an extraordinary moment, and it feels like an extraordinary moment.

“We saw during the second half how strong Shakhtar can be if you let them play. But we played great for 80 minutes and did not let their offence come into the match.”

The coach’s sentiments were also echoed by Gotze, who was impressive throughout the match, scoring one and setting up another during the first half.

“It was an amazing match, and we had great chances,” the 20-year-old told reporters.

“The first two goals made us very calm, and after the third goal, we played magnificently.”

Dortmund, who are in action next in the Bundesliga for a Revierderby against Schalke on Saturday, join Real Madrid as the first two teams in the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals.