Soccer / Football : Italy : Serie A 2011/2012

Paris Saint-Germain have completed the transfer of Brazil-born Italy midfielder Thiago Motta from Inter Milan in a deal reportedly worth €10m. Te 29-year-old had signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with an option for a further year. Claudio Ranieri had included Motta in his squad for a league match against Palermo, and the departure of the Italy international will come as a blow to the Inter coach.

Inter, who have also allowed Sulley Muntari to head to rivals Milan, have boosted their midfield line with the signings of Angelo Palombo from Sampdoria and Fredy Guarin from Porto on loan until the end of the season. The club also confirmed that Brazilian defender Juan Jesus has signed a contract until June 2016. The Brazil Under-20 international arrived earlier this week from Internacionl.

Midfielder Simone Padoin signed for Serie A leaders Juventus in a €5m move from Atalanta. The 27-year-old has agreed a five-year deal after successfully passing a routine medical. Meanwhile, former Italy forward Vincenzo Iaquinta has left Juventus to join Cesena on loan until the end of the season. Iaquinta moved to Juventus in 2007 from Udinese and has scored 40 goals in 108 appearances for the club, but has struggled with injuries over the past two years and has not played since last March.

Alessandro Matri gave an answer to some of the criticism he has been receiving recently by scoring both goals as leaders Juventus went on unbeaten with their 2-1 win over third-placed Udinese. Milan moved to within a point of Juventus at the Serie A summit with a comfortable 3-0 win over Cagliari at the San Siro. Lecce ended Inter's run of seven successive league wins with a 1-0 triumph.

Lazio took advantage to move fourth, eight points shy of Juventus, with a 3-0 win at Chievo Verona, thanks to Miroslav Klose's tenth and 11th league goals of the season. Roma were unable to significantly close the gap to the UEFA Champions League places after drawing 1-1 at home with Bologna. Napoli's top four hopes again suffered a blow after slipping to a 3-2 defeat at Genoa.

Juventus have completed the signing of defender Martin Caceres on loan from Sevilla for the remainder of the season. The 24-year-old Uruguay international, who enjoyed a previous spell with the Bianconeri during the 2009-10 season, passed a medical on Friday morning before sealing his return to Turin. Juve have reportedly paid €1.5 million to take Caceres on loan but retain the option to sign the player outright for €8m in the summer.

Milan have signed Argentinian striker Maxi Lopez on loan from Catania with an option to make the deal permanent in the summer. The 27-year-old former River Plate forward, who also played for Barcelona and Mallorca in Spain and with Moscow in Russia, joined Catania following a loan spell at Brazilian club Gremio in 2010 and scored 22 goals in 66 Serie A games with the Etnei.

Striker Amauri has completed a move to Fiorentina for a reported fee of €500,000 after having fallen out of favor at Juventus. The 31-year-old has not made a single appearance for Juventus this season and has been told he is not part of coach Antonio Conte's plans after spending the second half of last campaign on loan at Parma. Born in Brazil, Amauri gained Italian citizenship in April 2010 and made his only appearance for Italy in a friendly against the Ivory Coast in August that same year.

Juventus defeated Atalanta 2-0 to finish the first half of the Serie A season unbeaten. Milan kept up the pressure on leaders Juventus with a 3-0 win at Novara to close the gap to one point at the top of the table. Udinese kept up the chase of the top two with a 2-1 win over Catania. Inter Milan scored a controversial winner as they came from behind to beat Lazio 2-1 and move above their opponents into fourth place.

Francesco Totti struck twice to set a league scoring record, as resurgent Roma climbed to sixth by crushing Cesena 5-1. It was Totti's 211th goal for Roma, a league record for a single club. Seventh-placed Napoli continued their inconsistent form with a 1-1 draw at lowly Siena. Palermo forward Fabrizio Miccoli set up three goals and scored another in a 5-3 triumph against Genoa. Lecce came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw with Chievo.

Alexandre Pato will be out for three to four weeks after the latest in a series of muscle injuries. The 22-year-old Brazilian striker strained his left thigh after scoring the extra-time winner in his side's Coppa Italia round of 16 game against Novara on Wednesday. Pato already missed the start of this season due to a muscle problem, and his entire career with Milan has been marked by similar injuries. He has just one goal in 10 Serie A appearances this season.

Milan have suffered another injury setback with the news that Kevin-Prince Boateng has been ruled out for four weeks with a muscular problem. The loss of Boateng is a major blow for Milan, given that fellow midfielders Gennaro Gattuso, Alberto Aquilani and Mathieu Flamini are also sidelined. Injuries have prompted Milan to bring back Alexander Merkel, 19, from Genoa and recall Rodney Strasser, 21, after a loan stint with Lecce. Meanwhile, Milan have signed Algerian left-back Djamel Mesbah from Lecce on a contract through 2016.