Serie A leaders Juventus was held by hosts Atalanta BC to a 2-2 draw on Friday.
Juventus thought they had won when Dani Alves headed in seven minutes from time, but Remo Freuler leveled six minutes later.
“We just needed to stay with the game, but we lost our shape,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “It happened in the first half, but once we came back we should have closed the match. Usually we don’t concede like that.”
Photo: AP
“We’ve stretched our advantage over [AS] Roma by one point and now we have to get other victories. If we had won tonight it would have been a decisive step towards the league title.”
On-loan Juventus midfielder Leonardo Spinazzola scored an own-goal for his parent club to cancel out Andrea Conti’s opener on the stroke of halftime.
Juventus moved nine points clear of Roma, who are to host SS Lazio in the capital derby today.
Juventus started in a lackluster fashion and did not have a shot until the 26th minute when Gonzalo Higuain’s swiveling volley did not have the power to trouble Etrit Berisha.
Atalanta should have broken the deadlock on the half hour, but Gianluigi Buffon rushed out to clear Freuler’s attempt with his legs.
The home side took the lead just before halftime, when Alejandro Gomez chipped in a delightful cross to the back post where Conti bundled in from close range.
Juventus leveled five minutes after the break as Spinazzola headed Miralem Pjanic’s free-kick into his own net.
Alves was thought to have scored the winner for Juventus when he met Pjanic’s cross with a diving header, but Atalanta equalized a minute from time. Freuler’s shot was saved by Buffon, but the midfielder kept his composure to finish off the rebound.
LA LIGA
AP, MADRID
Striker Cedric Bakambu scored twice as Villarreal defeated Real Sporting de Gijon 3-1 in La Liga action on Friday, keeping alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Roberto Soldado opened the scoring in the first half, while Bakambu added two goals early in the second.
Douglas scored near the end for Sporting.
BUNDESLIGA
AP, LEVERKUSEN, Germany
Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s bid to pull away from the Bundesliga’s relegation zone was dealt a humiliating blow when they lost 4-1 at home to Schalke 04 on Friday.
Defeat increased the pressure on manager Tayfun Korkut, who has only one win in eight games since taking over last month.
Leverkusen had been 10th, seven points above the relegation zone, when Schmidt was fired. Now they are 12th, just four points clear.
Guido Burgstaller scored in the sixth minute for Schalke, thanks to a brilliant pass from Nabil Bentaleb to Leon Goretzka, who squared the ball.
Benedikt Hoewedes made it 2-0 with a header from a corner.
It got worse for the home side when Alessandro Schoepf added another in the 18th.
Burgstaller grabbed his second five minutes after halftime.
Stefan Kiessling pulled one back with more than 20 minutes remaining.
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