Juventus secure 7th straight Serie A title; Inter’s top-4 hope restored


Juventus reign supreme in Serie A yet again, after a goalless draw with Roma secured their seventh successive Scudetto and 34th overall.
Juventus players celebrate after a 0-0 draw with Roma that secured the Serie A title for a seventh-straight season.
Juventus celebrate winning the Scudetto.

Juventus won the Serie A title for a seventh straight season on Sunday following a 0-0 draw at Roma.

The trophy had been all-but-mathematically decided last weekend when second-placed Napoli dropped points, and the result at the Stadio Olimpico on the penultimate matchday ended all doubt.

No other Italian side has won more than five straight domestic titles, and Juventus’ run of seven matches Lyon’s from 2002-2008 for the most consecutive all-time in Europe’s top five leagues.

It also completed a fourth successive league and cup double for Juventus, who had beaten AC Milan 4-0 in the Coppa Italia final in the same stadium on Wednesday.

Needing only a draw to lift the Scudetto once again, Juventus got the result they needed against Roma, who saw Radja Nainggolan sent off in the second half to dent any hopes of prolonging the celebrations in Turin.

Juve’s Paulo Dybala had a goal ruled out for offside in a close decision and also had late penalty appeals waved away.

Napoli managed a 2-0 win at Sampdoria with goals in the second half from Arkadiusz Milik and Raul Albiol, but now trail Juventus by four points ahead of the final weekend.

Elsewhere, Inter Milan still have hope of qualifying for the Champions League after Lazio failed to seal their spot in settling for a 2-2 draw at Crotone on Sunday.

Lazio could have secured their place in Serie A’s top four with a win, as Inter’s hopes appeared in tatters after they lost at home to Sassuolo the night before.

But the last spot will now come down to a final-day showdown when the Nerazzurri travel to Lazio knowing that a win will allow them to join Juventus, Napoli and Roma in the Champions League.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored Lazio’s equaliser six minutes from time to at least ensure a draw next weekend will be enough for them to finish above Inter.

But that goal could also help doom Crotone to relegation, as they fell into the drop zone below SPAL on the head-to-head tiebreaker with both teams on 35 points.

Chievo, Cagliari and Udinese all earned massive wins away from home to move into position to stay up, though their safety is still not secure.

Emanuele Giaccherini and Roberto Inglese scored in the second half to rally Chievo to a 2-1 win at Bologna. Chievo are in 14th place on 37 points alongside Udinese, who got an early goal from Antonin Barak to win at already-relegated Hellas Verona 1-0.

Leonardo Pavoletti’s first-half goal was enough for Cagliari to move onto 36 points with a win at Fiorentina, whose hopes of a Europa League all but ended with their loss and AC Milan‘s 1-1 draw with Atalanta.

Fiorentina are eighth, three points back of Atalanta, and will need to win and overturn a seven-goal difference next week to earn a spot in Europe.

Milan’s draw secured their own spot in the Europa League, though they won’t be too pleased with the result after conceding a stoppage-time equaliser.

After Franck Kessie’s opener for Milan, both sides were reduced to 10 men, as Atalanta’s Rafael Toloi was sent off for sarcastically applauding the referee, before Milan’s Riccardo Montolivo was dismissed for a two-footed tackle.

Andrea Masiello beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a header at the back post to salvage a draw and give Atalanta hope of finishing sixth, which would allow them to avoid playing in the Europa qualification rounds in July.

If Milan finish seventh, it could greatly impact their summer plans with the club already scheduled to face Manchester United and Barcelona in California during the same week as the Europa League second qualifying round.

SPAL also remained in danger of relegation as they fell to a late 2-1 defeat at Torino, Lorenzo De Silvestri scoring the winner in the 87th minute.

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