Thousands of fans filled the streets and squares of Milan and surrounding towns after AC Milan won their 17th Italian title on Sunday with a 1-0 win over their only remaining challengers, AS Roma.
Celebrating supporters waved flags and blasted horns after a win that goes some way to erasing the memory of Milan's shock elimination from the Champions League by Deportivo Coruna.
"We are invincible. We have been unlucky in the Champions League but we got our payback with winning the Italian title," said Milan supporter Giorgio Mariotti.
PHOTO: AP PHOTO
A second-minute header from Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko ensured the victory for Milan, who moved nine points clear of Roma with just two matches remaining.
The celebrations went on for hours with people and cars moving through the city's streets displaying scarves, banners and hats sporting the team's red and black colors.
The noise of car horns and the sight of convoys of young fans on scooters was played out in other towns in Lombardia where loyalties are split between Milan and city rivals Inter.
The partying in the streets made up for the sour atmosphere at the stadium where the game was twice interrupted in the second half after Roma fans hurled fireworks and missiles on to the pitch.
Milan's Gennaro Gattuso was stunned by a powerful firework that exploded near him, and Milan goalkeeper Dida had to receive medical attention after he was twice struck by objects thrown from the crowd.
But after the final whistle was blown Milan's players danced in front of their supporters at the southern end of the stadium, linking arms and throwing themselves on to the pitch to huge roars from the 81,000 crowd.
English Premier League
Leeds United's hopes of premier league survival disappeared in eight awful second-half minutes on Sunday as a 1-0 lead turned into a 4-1 defeat at Bolton Wanderers that, barring a miracle, will send them down.
The result left Leeds six points behind Manchester City with two games remaining but with City boasting a goal difference better by 36, relegation is a formality.
Leicester City were relegated on Saturday and Wolverhampton Wanderers look certain to join them.
In the battle for fourth place Liverpool and Aston Villa both won to edge ahead of Newcastle United, beaten 1-0 by Manchester City on Saturday.
Liverpool beat Middlesbrough 2-0 with a Danny Murphy penalty and a goal for Emile Heskey, while Aston Villa beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 with an early header by Juan Pablo Angel.
Liverpool have 56 points, Villa 55 and Newcastle, with a game in hand, 53. Liverpool host Newcastle on the last day of the season in what looks likely to decide who makes the Champions League qualifying round.
Three years ago to the day Leeds were playing Valencia in the semi-finals of Europe's elite competition but now, with most of that team long sold and the club still in debt, their immediate future looks bleak.
Leeds, ever-present in the premier league and the last team to win the old first division title in 1992, knew they had to win on Sunday and got the ideal start when Mark Viduka converted a penalty in the 27th minute.
But the Australian played only six more minutes before being sent off for a second yellow card in two minutes, both for elbowing. His second red card in a month proved costly.
Bolton were level two minutes after halftime when Youri Djorkaeff latched on to a clever Jay-Jay Okocha pass to score from close range and the Frenchman got his second six minutes later.
Bolton remain on course for their highest premier league finish as their fourth win in a row takes them up to seventh.
Liverpool were always on top at Anfield and, after Michael Owen hit a post and Harry Kewell had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half, Danny Murphy broke the deadlock with a 49th-minute penalty after Owen was brought down.
Substitute Emile Heskey got the second four minutes later and the home side eased through the rest of the game.
Spanish League
Valencia closed in on their second Spanish title in three seasons after they opened a four-point gap at the top of the standings thanks to an emphatic 2-0 win at home to Real Betis on Sunday.
Goals either side of halftime from defender Curro Torres and rugged midfielder Ruben Baraja gave Valencia a deserved victory and put them firmly in the driving seat as the title race reaches its climax.
With three games to go Rafa Benitez's side lead the table on 74 points, followed by champions Real Madrid, who slumped to their second successive defeat on Saturday when they lost 2-0 at Deportivo Coruna, on 70.
Third-placed Barcelona are just a point behind Real on 69 after they stretched their unbeaten run to 17 games, coming from a goal down to claim a sparkling 4-1 win over struggling neighbors Espanyol.
Striker Raul Tamudo put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot on 19 minutes, but Ronaldinho produced yet another virtuoso display to help steer his side towards victory.
Fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao remained on course for a place in next season's UEFA Cup despite losing 2-0 at Sevilla, and Atletico Madrid moved up to sixth after a breathless 3-2 win at home to relegation-threatened Celta Vigo on Saturday.
The fight for survival remains as intense as ever but Albacete and Real Mallorca went a long way to assuring their future in the top flight with important home wins.
Albacete beat fellow strugglers Real Zaragoza 3-1, while Mallorca owed their 2-1 victory over Malaga to a double from newly crowned African Player of the Year Samuel Eto'o.
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were ordered on Tuesday by a French labor court to pay their former forward Kylian Mbappe up to 61 million euros (US$71.6 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses. France captain Mbappe, who left PSG in June last year to join Real Madrid, had been claiming more than 260 million euros in total from his former club. PSG in turn had demanded Mbappe pay them 440 million euros. Mbappe, 26, also claimed the Qatari-owned reigning European champions had applied the wrong French legal classification to his contract, but that was rejected by the court. The labor court said
RSS