Olivier Giroud on Sunday secured UEFA Champions League qualification for AC Milan with the only goal in a 1-0 win at troubled Juventus.
Giroud guided home a brilliant header from Davide Calabria’s cross in the 40th minute to guarantee Milan at least fourth place and complete Italy’s lineup in Europe’s top club competition next season.
It was the one moment of quality in an otherwise drab match in Turin in which little of consequence happened apart from Giroud’s 12th league goal of the season.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Stefano Pioli’s side, who were knocked out of this year’s Champions League in the semi-finals by Inter, join their local rivals, SS Lazio and champions SSC Napoli on the continent’s big stage.
They are six points ahead of fifth-placed Atalanta BC with one match left in what has been a long season and one in which their title defense collapsed after the FIFA World Cup.
“This was the first time we truly tried to be competitive in two tournaments and we were lacking something,” Pioli said. “We can enjoy the win and qualification, but it was a strange season for many reasons.”
Juve stay seventh and in the UEFA Europa Conference League spot after being deducted 10 points for illicit transfer activity on Monday last week.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side can still reach the UEFA Europa League spots as they are one point behind AS Roma in sixth, although the specter of more punishment for financial irregularities hangs over the Turin giants.
US Lecce ensured Serie A survival after late penalty drama gave them a 1-0 win over AC Monza, while a crushing late draw with Empoli took Hellas Verona’s survival battle to the final day.
Lorenzo Colombo rammed home the spot-kick which maintained Lecce’s Serie A status in the 11th minute of stoppage-time after Christian Gytkjaer was penalized for handball following a video assistant referee review.
Former Denmark forward Gytkjaer had a penalty of his own saved by Wladimiro Falcone with six minutes remaining.
That allowed Colombo to fire Lecce five points clear of the relegation zone and cause coach Marco Baroni to sink to his knees in joy and grief for his recently deceased father.
“I thought about my father because I lost him recently... I felt him by my side in that moment,” Baroni told DAZN.
Verona sit in the final relegation spot after a gut-wrenching Giangiacomo Magnani own-goal in the sixth minute of stoppage-time which snatched a 1-1 draw for Empoli.
They are level on 31 points with 17th-placed Spezia, whom they might have to face in a playoff devised this season to decide who ends up in 18th place between teams who finish on the same points.
Victor Osimhen’s brace was not enough for Napoli as the newly crowned Italian champions threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Bologna.
Nigeria forward Osimhen took his season’s tally to 30 in all competitions with finishes in the 14th and 54th minutes.
However, Lewis Ferguson pulled one back in the 63rd minute and Lorenzo de Silvestri headed the hosts level in his final home match as a Bologna player.
Napoli won their first league title since 1989-1990 this season, but owner Aurelio de Laurentiis said that coach Luciano Spalletti would leave to take a year’s sabbatical.
“He’s a free man, he’s given us something and I thank him, it’s right that he does what he wants,” De Laurentiis told state broadcaster Rai.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s 89th-minute winner in a 3-2 success over relegated US Cremonese reclaimed second spot for Lazio.
Serbia midfielder Milinkovic-Savic had put Lazio two goals ahead at halftime, but Pablo Galdames and a Manuel Lazzari own-goal had the away side level within four second-half minutes just before the hour mark.
His late winner puts Lazio two points ahead of Inter with the two teams traveling to Empoli and Torino respectively on the final day.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS