Serie A Roundup: Juventus' Campaign Ends in Defeat While Milan, Roma & Napoli Win
By Max Cooper
Saturday night represented the first half of a gripping final weekend of Serie A action, as 10 teams all took to the field for the last time in this wonderful campaign.
With the title, Champions League places and Europa League spots already sewn up, there was little - other than pride - to play for at the top end of the table. But Italy's giants were keen to sign off in style, and put on a fantastic show for its lucky viewers.
But how did Saturday night's action go down? Don't worry, 90min has got you covered.
We'll start with the nine-time successive reigning champions, who welcomed AS Roma to Turin, a side which was yet to pick up a single point at Juventus' new stadium. That all changed on Saturday evening, however.
Juve went ahead inside five minutes through Gonzalo Higuain, and nothing out of the ordinary appeared to be on the cards. But Roma turned the game on its head, first through a Nikola Kalinic equaliser, and then a quick-fire Diego Perotti brace, running out eventual 3-1 winners.
For I Giallorossi, this will give them plenty of confidence ahead of their Europa League contest with Sevilla. As for I Bianconeri, the less said, the better.
That result meant that Inter would end the season only a point behind Juventus, if they could overcome an impressive Atalanta side. And Antonio Conte's men did just that. It was a very routine 2-0 victory for I Nerazzurri, who took the lead inside the first minute of the match through Danilo D'Ambrosio, before Ashley Young doubled the advantage soon after.
Atalanta rarely threatened to get back into the game, and it was job done for Conte and co.
With the top three all accounted for, that left Lazio. The Eagles, cemented in fourth spot, had little to play for, although star striker Ciro Immobile was gunning to become Serie A's all-time highest goalscorer in a single season, needing a brace to secure his status in Italian football history.
Unfortunately, the 30-year-old could only manage to bury an equaliser, cancelling out Fabian Ruiz's early strike, as Napoli went on to win 3-1 at Stadio San Paolo. A Lorenzo Insigne penalty gave the hosts the lead in the second half, and Matteo Politano provided the 90th minute cherry on the cake.
Elsewhere, Milan continued their fantastic run of form, beating Cagliari 3-0 at San Siro to end the season in sixth place. A Ragnar Klavan own goal gave I Rossoneri a head start, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic atoned for an earlier missed penalty by notching a second.
Samu Castillejo completed the rout to hand Stefano Pioli the perfect finale to an impressive debut campaign.
At the bottom of the table, Brescia bowed out of Serie A with a 1-1 draw against Sampdoria, confirming their spot in 19th position. Samp went a goal to the good just before half-time through Mehdi Leris, but an Ernesto Torregrossa penalty meant the hosts salvaged a point before departing the top flight.
Plenty of talking points then, and there's still so much to come tomorrow!
Results:
Brescia 1-1 Sampdoria
AC Milan 3-0 Cagliari
Atalanta 0-2 Inter
Juventus 1-3 Roma
Napoli 3-1 Lazio