Category: Italy Serie A

• Napoli three points off top after beating Empoli 3-0
• Atlético overcome lowly Valladolid 4-2 in La Liga

Napoli cruised to a 3-0 home win over Empoli on Monday, with Scott McTominay striking twice and Romelu Lukaku also on target as the hosts kept pace with Inter. Antonio Conte’s side were feeling the pressure after Inter’s 3-1 home win against Cagliari on Saturday, but they cut the gap back to three points with six matches to go. Napoli are seven points clear of Atalanta in third as the Serie A title battle narrows to a two-horse race.

It took 18 minutes for Napoli to open the scoring as Lukaku battled free in midfield and passed to McTominay, whose low long-range shot bounced over Devis Vásquez’s outstretched hand and into the corner of the net.

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‘As a fan it’s beautiful to finish undefeated,’ said retiring Roma head coach after 1-1 draw with city rivals Lazio

Perhaps we ought not to believe Claudio Ranieri when he tells us that this the last time. He announced his retirement from club management last May, delivering what seemed like a perfect storybook ending, saving Cagliari from relegation. The club where he made his name three decades earlier, raising them from Serie C to the top-flight. An island, Sardinia, where the locals think him as one of their own.

Yet Ranieri’s first love has always been the city he grew up in and the team he supported, Roma. He had managed them twice before, but when they called for a third time in November he found himself unable to say no. The club was a mess, having already fired Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric 12 games into this Serie A season. They had won only three of those.

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• Forward dismissed for reckless first-half tackle
• Atalanta back in winning ways against Bologna

Kylian Mbappé’s reckless foul left Real Madrid with a nervy second half before they saw out a 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Alavés, who also finished the match with 10 men.

Eduardo Camavinga gave Real the lead in the 34th minute, scoring from outside the box with a brilliant curled shot, after an earlier goal by Raúl Asencio was ruled out following a video assistant referee check.

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• Arnautovic and Martínez on target in 3-1 victory
• Barcelona stretch La Liga lead with win at Leganés

Inter Milan cruised to a 3-1 win at home to Cagliari thanks to goals from Marko Arnautovic, Lautaro Martínez and Yann Aurel Bisseck to keep their grip on top spot in Serie A on Saturday.

Inter are six points clear of second-placed Napoli, who host lowly Empoli on Monday, with six rounds to go.

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• Juventus and USA midfielder named in probe, per reports
• Investigation focuses on poker and non-soccer betting

United States midfielder Weston McKennie is among 13 soccer players being investigated for illegal online betting in Italy, according to widespread media reports.

A new investigation by Milan prosecutors stems from evidence given by Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Fagioli in 2023. Both then served lengthy bans, ruling them out for most of last season, after agreeing plea bargains that also included therapy for a gambling addiction.

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• Second-placed side pegged back to 1-1 by stunning flick
• Valladolid players sorry for Sunday’s altercation on bench

Napoli missed the chance to narrow the gap at the top of Serie A after a 1-1 draw at Bologna, with André-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s first-half goal cancelled out by a moment of magic from the hosts’ Dan Ndoye.

With leaders Inter only managing a draw at Parma on Saturday, Napoli had a chance to close on them, but they remain second with 65 points, three behind. Bologna are fourth on 57 points.

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New manager has transformed mood and on Sunday halted the seven-match winning streak of Claudio Ranieri’s Roma

Igor Tudor was on the pitch, stepping out of his technical area and on to the playing field as he gestured frantically at his defenders, jabbing a pointed finger so close to Stephan El Shaarawy that it appeared he might tap the Roma forward on the shoulder. It has been a little over 20 years since Tudor played his last game for Juventus, but all that time away does not appear to have lessened his passion.

The Bianconeri had needed this, needed something, an injection of purpose, of fury, of life. All their energies seemed to have expired under Thiago Motta, four defeats in six games telling only a part of the story. Anyone could lose a match to Atalanta, but 4-0? At home? And to follow that up with a 3-0 thrashing by one of your club’s favourite victims, Fiorentina?

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• Marseille two points ahead of Monaco in top-four race
• Atlético win over Sevilla closes gap to Madrid and Barça

Adrien Rabiot scored a volley as Marseille beat Toulouse at home 3-2 to reclaim second place in Ligue 1. The hosts, who had lost their last three games, saw bitter rival Paris Saint-Germain clinch a record-extending 13th title on Saturday with six matches remaining. But a much-needed win put Marseille two points ahead of Monaco in third place and three points in front of Strasbourg in fourth in the race for a Champions League spot next season.

The Marseille head coach Roberto De Zerbi had grown increasingly frustrated with his side’s inconsistency and there were tensions leading up to this game. “The coach was angry and he tried to remotivate us, that’s normal, that’s his role,” Rabiot told DAZN. “No one abandoned ship. On the contrary, we trained with even more enthusiasm, and tonight we gave the right answer.”

Midway through the first half, Rabiot broke down the left and sent a cross to the back post, where Gabriel Suazo miskicked the ball for a clumsy own-goal. Marseille conceded a soft goal shortly after, with the ball hitting the Toulouse striker Frank Magri’s shoulder as he attempted a header, the ball sailing over goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli.

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• PSG confirmed as champions for fourth straight season
• Real Madrid stunned 2-1 by Valencia but Barcelona held

Paris Saint-Germain sealed their fourth straight Ligue 1 title on Saturday after a 1-0 win over Angers gave Luis Enrique’s side an unassailable lead in the French top flight.

The victory, courtesy of a Désiré Doué goal, moved PSG to 74 points with six rounds left, 24 points ahead of second-placed Monaco, who can reach only 68 points if they win all their remaining games.

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• Harry Kane scores in 3-1 victory at 10-man Augsburg
• Espanyol up to 15th after 4-0 win against Rayo Vallecano

Bayern Munich came back from a goal down to beat 10-man Augsburg 3-1 away on Friday and move nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga but Jamal Musiala went off injured and looks unlikely to be fit for next week’s Champions League quarter-final.

Musiala equalised before Harry Kane’s header and a deflected own goal from Augsburg’s Chrislain Matsima gave Bayern the points after the hosts took the lead thorugh Dimitris Gianoulis’ strike but ran out of steam when Cedric Zesiger was sent off. Bayern now have 68 points with six games left, nine ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who travel to Heidenheim on Saturday.

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Winger has 32 Serie A goals over the past three years as side keep up push for another Champions League campaign

Venice has no shortage of eye-catching door-knockers, heavy bronze casts of 16th-century lions and sea monsters adorning entrances of palaces throughout the lagoon city. Still, there is always room for another. Riccardo Orsolini could not hang around quite so long, but his goal for Bologna away to Venezia on Saturday will linger in the memories of supporters.

The second half had barely started when Nicolò Cambiaghi cut back from the left flank and crossed right-footed to the far post. Orsolini met his delivery with an exquisite side-footed volley across the goalkeeper and into the corner of the net.

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• Milan midfielder hospitalised ahead of 2-1 loss to Napoli
• Inter edge out Udinese 2-1; Barcelona defeat Girona 4-1

The Milan midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has had successful appendectomy surgery after being diagnosed with acute appendicitis, the Serie A club said on Sunday. Local media reported that during Milan’s training camp in Napoli the England international experienced severe abdominal pain that necessitated hospitalisation for further investigation.

Tests confirmed the diagnosis, prompting the operation, which went well, the club said in a statement. Further details on Loftus-Cheek’s condition have not been provided.

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• Ligue 1 leaders trounce Saint-Étienne 6-1
• Harry Kane scores as Bayern battle past St Pauli

Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique wants the club to keep their focus on domestic and European titles despite all but securing a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 crown.

PSG thrashed relegation-threatened Saint-Étienne 6-1 to virtually assure themselves of a second straight title under the Spaniard. Only Monaco have a mathematical chance to overhaul them after their 2-1 win over Nice left them 21 points behind PSG with seven games to play.

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• Former Bologna coach leaves after just nine months
• Axe follows heavy defeats by Atalanta and Fiorentina

Juventus have sacked Thiago Motta as manager and appointed Igor Tudor as his replacement. The decision comes after Motta guided the club to consecutive heavy defeats in Serie A, losing 4-0 at home to Atalanta and 3-0 at Fiorentina.

Those losses left Juve fifth in the table, 12 points behind the leaders, Inter. The 42-year-old’s side were also surprisingly knocked out of the Champions League in the playoff round by PSV Eindhoven in February. Less than a week later, they exited the Coppa Italia, knocked out by Empoli after a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals.

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Another costly defeat means Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have not beaten the Nerazzurri from Milan since 2018

There was no timidity left in the city of Bergamo, no desire to hide behind underdog status. The thousand Atalanta fans who descended on the team’s training ground on Saturday brought a banner insisting: “We Believe”. One day later, as their team prepared to kick off against Inter, another was unfurled in the north stand of Gewiss Stadium. “Needle and thread are in the drawer,” it read. “10 finals to stitch it on to our chest.”

The reference of course was to the Scudetto – a badge in the colours of the Italian flag that Serie A’s winners get to wear on their kit. Atalanta have never enjoyed that honour. They have won only two pieces of major silverware in club history – the 1963 Coppa Italia and last season’s Europa League. In Serie A they have never finished higher than third, and even that is a recent development, achieved for the first time in 2019.

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