From the back pages, February 27: Serie A bosses fine Mario Balotelli

From the back pages, February 27: Serie A bosses fine Mario Balotelli — after HIS abuse hell

Italian football today hit a shocking low after Mario Balotelli was fined — following HIS race-hate hell. The ex-Manchester City star was the victim of horrific racial abuse during Sunday’s Milan derby. Yet Serie A chiefs have hit BALOTELLI in the pocket for confronting Inter racists after the final whistle. (The Sun)

Tom Maynard’s devastated family said today that the player “made choices that night that tragically cost him his life”, after an inquest heard how the player was high on a cocktail of cocaine, ecstasy and booze when he was killed on a railway line as he attempted to flee police. (The Mirror)

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Real Madrid’s superb 3-1 victory over Barcelona to go through to the Copa del Rey final

4-2 on aggregate. (The Guardian)

Rafael Benítez this afternoon played down a bust-up with his players as little more than a “normal talk”, insisting it was business as usual before tomorrow’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at Middlesbrough. (The Times)

Gareth Bale’s stunning late winning for Tottenham will have left Arsenal reeling in the battle for Champions League qualification, reckons Scott Parker. (The Independent)

The Football Association is to look into a number of incidents which occurred during Monday night’s Premier League Under-21 match between Liverpool and Manchester United. Late in the second half of United’s 1-0 win a fan ran on to the pitch at St Helens’ Langtree Park stadium and appeared to direct abuse at Liverpool striker Adam Morgan before tussling with stewards as he was led away. (The Telegraph)

Everton reached the last eight of the FA Cup with a convincing victory that maintains manager David Moyes’ hopes of winning his first trophy for the club. (Daily Mail)

Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has called for his team-mates to show some fight for their under-fire manager. Arsene Wenger has come under intense scrutiny this season, as his side have lurched from once crisis to another. They were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions and crashed to a 3-1 defeat at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League crash. (The Express)