Category: Italy Serie A

After a spring of boardroom civil war, the Giallorossi’s two-goal hero put his side on the verge of a historic return to Champions League

A Rome derby on the penultimate weekend of a Serie A season could never be a low-stakes occasion. Scudetto wins come rarely in Italy’s capital city – Roma and Lazio have only five between them – leaving neighbourly bragging rights as the next-most important prize on offer. It is an intense, bitter rivalry that has produced countless iconic moments – from Francesco Totti taking selfies under the Curva to a cup-winning goal by Senad Lulic – if sadly also many violent clashes between supporters.

And, of course, it matters more when either side has tangible objectives left to play for. As recently as late April that did not appear very likely. Roma were sixth – five points adrift of the Champions League places – and Lazio ninth. But then the Giallorossi got on a roll, just as Milan and Juventus started dropping points. A win in the derby now could propel them into the top four, if either of those sides slipped up again.

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• Midfielder has not yet agreed extension at Anfield

• Liverpool value Jones at around £35m

Inter are expected to renew their interest in Curtis Jones this summer, when the Liverpool midfielder will enter the final 12 months of his contract.

Jones has been in talks with his boyhood club over a new deal for several months but no agreement has been reached on an extension. The Italian champions, who inquired about the 25-year-old in January, remain keen on the England international and are likely to make another approach in the summer window.

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• Sevilla safe despite defeat against Real Madrid

• Tiny Elversberg seal first promotion to Bundesliga

Roma took a huge step towards returning to the Champions League by beating Lazio 2-0 in a feisty derby which finished with both teams down to 10 men, while Napoli won 3-0 at Pisa to secure a top-four spot.

Gianluca Mancini smashed home two headers from corners, one in each half, at the Stadio Olimpico to move Roma up to fourth thanks also to Juventus’s shock 2-0 home defeat by Fiorentina.

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San Siro emptied early after supporters once again sang the former director’s name as club faces lack of Champions League football … again

There were more than seven minutes left to play, plus injury time, in a crucial end-of-season game, yet San Siro was already half empty. Milan’s Ultras had deserted the Curva Sud to prepare a post-game protest, but even the less organised, more forgiving parts of the club’s fanbase could not be bothered to stay until the end of another humiliating defeat.

Their team was losing 3-0, at home, to Atalanta, and it hardly even felt a surprise. With this loss, inevitable as it now appeared, the Rossoneri had collected just seven points from their last eight games. Only three teams in Serie A had done worse over the same stretch. Two of those – Verona, and Pisa – have been relegated. The third, Lecce, are perilously close to joining them.

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• Luis Enrique’s side beat Brest 1-0

• Atalanta deal blow to Milan’s Champions League hopes

Paris Saint-Germain left it late to earn a 1-0 home win over Brest on Sunday to all but guarantee a fifth successive Ligue 1 title as Désiré Doué came off the bench to score an 82nd-minute winner.

The victory advanced PSG to 73 points with two games left, six ahead of second-placed Lens, who also have two games remaining, and with a far superior goal difference. PSG require a single point from their next match at Lens on Wednesday to be mathematically certain of the title.

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• Kane misses first Bundesliga spot-kick in 25 attempts in win

• Slavia-Sparta derby abandoned after pitch invasion

Harry Kane missed a penalty as Bayern Munich failed to hit top form but the Bundesliga champions still edged struggling Wolfsburg 1-0 to bounce back after their midweek Champions League semi-final exit to Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern, who won with a Michael Olise goal, had suffered a 6-5 aggregate loss to PSG after their 1-1 draw in Munich on Wednesday, narrowly missing out on what would have been their first Champions League final in six years. The frustration was evident at the start as the Bavarian side, with six changes in the lineup, lacked their usual attacking spark despite having Kane, the top scorer, in the starting XI.

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Inter’s manager was not first choice to replace Simeone Inzaghi but has created a juggernaut that could not be stopped

It all felt inevitable, by the end, Internazionale becoming champions of Italy for the 21st time with a win over Parma they did not even need. A draw would have sufficed: in this game, or the next one, or either of the two after that. Their rivals for the Scudetto yielded one-by-one through the spring and then, finally, all at once. None of Napoli, Milan or Juventus won this weekend, not that it would have mattered any more if they had.

Inter were 10 points clear at the start of this round and 12 by its conclusion, the best team in Serie A by a mile. They have scored 82 goals in a league where no other team has yet made it to 60. Defensively, only Como can equal their 17 clean sheets.

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• Inter 2-0 Parma seals scudetto with three games to spare

• Marcus Thuram and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on target

Inter sealed the Serie A title with a 2-0 victory over Parma, wrapping up the scudetto with three games to spare. The Nerazzurri only needed a point to claim their 21st Italian league championship before the home match, with defending champions Napoli nine points behind and Milan and 12 points back after a 2-0 defeat at Sassuolo earlier in the day.

Yet a clinical Marcus Thuram finish in first-half stoppage time put the hosts ahead at San Siro. The France forward latched on to Piotr Zielinski’s defence-splitting pass and made no mistake inside the box. Henrikh Mkhitaryan sealed the win with a close-range finish in the 80th minute to ensure a party atmosphere inside the stadium before the full-time whistle.

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• Barça will be champions if Real fail to win on Sunday

• Bayern draw with Heidenheim; PSG denied by Lorient

Barcelona could secure the La Liga title on Sunday after Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres struck late in a 2-1 victory at Osasuna. With four games remaining, Barça top the table on 88 points, 14 clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who have a game in hand and visit Espanyol on Sunday. Should Madrid fail to win, Barcelona will be confirmed champions for the second successive season.

Barça broke through in the 81st minute when Marcus Rashford crossed from the right and Lewandowski rose to head in. Five minutes later Fermín López slipped Torres clear and he finished low past Sergio Herrera. Raúl García pulled back a goal from close range two minutes later, but it was too little to late for Osasuna, who remain 10th on 42 points.

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Allegations of ‘sporting fraud’ against Gianluca Rocchi arrive at an especially messy moment for Italian football

This could have been the weekend when Inter sealed the Serie A title. Instead, it became one overshadowed by a refereeing scandal. On Saturday, Agenzia Italia broke the news that Gianluca Rocchi, the man responsible for designating match officials for Serie A and Serie B, was under investigation for “complicity in sporting fraud”. He suspended himself from his duties for the National Referees’ Committee for Italy’s top two divisions (CAN) the same day.

So did Andrea Gervasoni, the video assistant referee system (VAR) supervisor for the same body and implicated in the same investigation. Rocchi released a statement through the Italian Referees’ Association saying he wanted to minimise disruption to peers while the legal action took its course, but that he was confident he would “emerge unscathed and stronger than before”. Lawyers for both men suggested they were still unclear about the exact nature of the charges.

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• Nikola Vlasic scores Torino equaliser in 2-2 draw

• Dortmund seal Champions League spot with 4-0 win

Champions-elect Inter were held to a 2-2 draw at Torino on Sunday, with the Serie A leaders letting slip a two-goal lead and leaving the title race ticking over with four rounds left.

Inter appeared to be cruising after Marcus Thuram put them in front in the 23rd minute and Yann Bisseck doubled their lead 16 minutes after the break with another header but Torino clawed their way back into the game.

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• Bayern stun Mainz with four second-half goals

• Rashford strikes for Barcelona in win at Getafe

Bayern Munich fought back from three goals down to clinch a 4-3 win away to Mainz 05, with substitutes Harry Kane and Michael Olise leading a second-half comeback for the Bundesliga champions. Dominik Kohr, Paul Nebel and Sheraldo Becker scored for Mainz in the first half while Bayern, who had made eight changes to the starting lineup that beat Bayer Leverkusen in Wednesday’s German Cup semi-final, had no shots on target until the break.

The Bayern coach, Vincent Kompany, brought on Kane and Olise after the break and their renewed aggression paid off with Nicolas Jackson scoring in the 53rd minute and Olise finding the net 20 minutes later.

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Giallorossi manager has struggled to build and his relationship with Claudio Ranieri is beginning to fray

Right from the beginning of Gian Piero Gasperini’s time as Roma manager, there have been people who believed it would all end in tears. Despite a brilliant record with Atalanta, whom he made into consistent top four contenders, as well as winning the Europa League in 2024, a section of his new club’s support was opposed to his appointment. “Respect our history,” read one banner outside the Stadio Olimpico last May. “Don’t bring that shit Gasperini to [Roma’s training ground at] Trigoria.”

Such objections were born more from rivalry than doubts about the quality of his work. Unsurprisingly, given that the Giallorossi were in direct competition with Atalanta throughout most of Gasperini’s nine-year tenure there, he had made various comments that got under fans’ skin.

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• Bayern bounce back from early concession to win 4-2

• PSG’s title hopes hit after 2-1 home defeat by Lyon

Bayern Munich secured their 35th German league title by beating Stuttgart 4-2 to open up an unassailable lead with four games to play. Sunday’s result sent Bayern 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

The Bavarian side, who face Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup semi-final next week before taking on Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on 28 April, were a goal down before scoring four times to quickly turn the game around.

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Midfielder has again been Napoli’s star but ageing squad has taken club backwards and Conte’s future is uncertain

Was this the end of the Serie A title race? On a weekend when the last two teams pursuing them both slipped up, Inter delivered another statement victory, recovering from two goals down to win 4-3 away to a Como side who had been playing some of the best football in the division.

When the final whistle went, manager Christian Chivu celebrated like a man who knew exactly what it meant, hugging an assistant so hard he lifted them off the floor. Inter were nine points clear now in first place, with six games to go. But when the cameras arrived for post-game interviews, he played coy.

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