Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu had earlier cancelled out Paulo Barreto's 25th minute opener.

CNN: Milan victory turns up heat on Ferrara

Adrian Mutu had a 30-yard effort saved late on and the teams will now meet in the second leg in Florence on 1 May.

BBC: Rangers 0-0 Fiorentina

Both teams could only muster long-range efforts, Karim Benzema for the French, and Adrian Mutu and Daniel Niculae for Romania, but none of them were on target.

CNN: France and Romania share bore draw

The closest Fiorentina came to breaking the deadlock was when Adrian Mutu drilled in a late effort from 30 yards, but the Romanian was denied by an excellent save from Neil Alexander.

BBC: Smith confident of Gers progress

With first-choice penalty takers Adrian Mutu and Stevan Jovetic both injured, Vargas took responsibility to score his first goal of the season at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, placing his penalty into the top left-hand corner of the goal.

CNN: Liverpool crash out despite victory