AC Milan, with superstars Kaka, Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko in its line-up, lost 2-0 at Genoa on Sunday to plunge the seven-time European champion into crisis.

It was Milan's second defeat in the opening two games of the Serie A season following a 2-1 home loss to Bologna and put renewed pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti, who failed to guide the team into the Champions League this season.

Giuseppe Sculli opened the scoring for Genoa after 30 minutes with Diego Milito adding an injury-time penalty to give the home side its first win against Milan on its own soil since 1983.

Milan is now second from bottom, propped up by Cagliari, which is also without a point.

After the match Milan general manager Adriano Galliani issued a warning to Ancelotti who has presided over the club's worst start since 1986.

"He doesn't risk the sack, but he'd better stop losing," said Galliani.

Ancelotti, who has been at the helm for eight seasons, said he was confident he could solve the problems.

"We have time to fix things and I am certain that we will. This is my Milan," he said.

Shevchenko, who returned to Milan from Chelsea in the summer, said his teammates were feeling the strain.

"This defeat weighs on the players. It is a difficult moment and we must try to stick together, trying to find a victory so we can get back on track," said the Ukrainian.

"It's tricky to say what we are missing at the moment, but it just seems to be a bad time for us."

Lazio leads the way with a second win in two games secured with a 2-0 win over Sampdoria with Mauro Zarate and Goran Pandev on target.

Atalanta also has a 100 percent record and is second in the table following a 1-0 win at Bologna with Tiberio Guarente grabbing the only goal on nine minutes.

Fiorentina is another Italian side having problems after slumping to a 2-1 defeat at Napoli which left it sixth from bottom.

Adrian Mutu put Fiorentina ahead in the 41st minute but headers from Marek Hamsik and Christian Maggio gave Napoli the three points.

In Sunday's late game, Juventus picked up its first win with Amauri grabbing the goal in a 1-0 victory at home to Udinese.

On Saturday, defending champion Inter Milan clinched its first victory of the Serie A season with a controversial 2-1 win at the San Siro over Catania despite being reduced to 10 men.

Inter, which travels to Panathinaikos in its Champions League opener on Tuesday, had Ghana international striker Sulley Muntari red-carded late in the first half.

It had already fallen behind to a headed goal from Gianvito Plasmati three minutes before halftime, although the strike was greeted with silence as Catania fans had been banned from traveling as part of a nationwide crackdown on hooliganism.

Inter, coached by former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, leveled two minutes from the interval when Portuguese import Ricardo Quaresma marked his debut with a deflected goal.

The winning goal came five minutes after the break in controversial circumstances.

A corner kick came off the head of Catania's Cristian Terlizzi and hit the the inside of the far post into goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri's hands.

Despite Catania's protests, the referee and linesman both ruled the ball had crossed the line and awarded the goal.

Meanwhile AS Roma's build-up to its opening Champions League clash suffered a setback when it crashed 3-1 at Palermo.

The defeat, coming on the back of a 1-1 draw with Napoli two weeks ago, was the worst preparation for Tuesday's European match against Romania's Cluj.

Roma took the lead through Julio Baptista after just eight minutes, but Palermo, with new coach Davide Ballardini having replaced Stefano Colantuono, leveled through a Fabrizio Miccoli drive in the 20th minute.

Miccoli added a second for Palermo in the 56th minute with Edison Cavani scoring the third in the 72nd minute.

(AFP via China Daily September 16, 2008)