Milan draw hands Juve championship crown

Juventus claimed their 28th Italian league title last night without kicking a ball after rivals Milan were held to a 3-3 draw at home by Palermo. The result leaves Juve four points clear of Milan who have just one more match to play.

Milan, who fielded a reserve side ahead of their Champions League final against Liverpool in Istanbul on Wednesday, led 3-1 at the break thanks to two goals from Brazilian Serginho and a Jon Dahl Tomasson strike.

Carlo Ancelotti's side were all set to force Juventus to win their penultimate match at Livorno tomorrow to secure the title but Palermo struck twice inside the final 13 minutes.

A twice-taken penalty from Italy international Luca Toni got Palermo back in the match before Simone Barone fired in at the near post for a 79th minute equaliser.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, who finished as a runner-up twice when in charge at Juventus, defended his decision to field a second string side.

"I think it was a logical thing to do when we have a European Cup final to play on Wednesday," he said.

Milan remain 10 points clear of third-placed Inter and their runners-up spot means they will go straight into the group stage of the Champions League next season.

Juve coach Fabio Capello has now won titles with four different clubs - Milan, Roma and Juventus in Italy and Real Madrid in Spain.

The title is Juve's third in the past four seasons and sixth in the last 11 campaigns - all five previous triumphs coming under the guidance of former coach Marcello Lippi.

There was also a personal record for Juventus defender Ciro Ferrara who equalled the record eight Serie A titles won in a career set by former Juve players Giovanni Ferrari and Giuseppe Furino.

Ferrara, who will retire from playing to join Juve's coaching staff at the end of the season, won two titles with Napoli before moving to the Turin club.

The other matches

Atalanta Vs Roma - Roma secured a place in the UEFA Cup with Thursday's cup semi-final win over Udinese but they have yet to make sure of a place in Serie A next season as they go into this game just three points off the relegation zone.

Defeat for bottom club Atalanta could send them down.

Brescia Vs Messina - Plenty to play for with Messina hoping for a place in the UEFA Cup whilst Brescia are still battling against relegation. Brescia's 2-1 win at Bologna last week kept their hopes alive but they are without both their main strikers as Andrea Caracciolo and Simone Del Nero are suspended.

Cagliari Vs Udinese - A meeting between two teams who were defeated in Italian Cup semi-finals this week. Udinese remain level on points with Sampdoria in the fight for fourth place which brings with it a spot in the qualifying round of the Champions League.

If the teams remain level then they will have to playoff over two legs.

Chievo Vs Bologna - Neither side are safe yet although it is Chievo who are the closest to the drop. Maurizio D'Angelo made a great start as Chievo coach with the win at Siena, while Bologna's vastly experienced coach Carlo Mazzone has a lengthy injury list to cope with.

Lazio Vs Fiorentina - Fiorentina coach Dino Zoff will need to put one over on the club where he was coach if his side are to fight their way out of the bottom three.

Technically, Lazio are still not safe as they are only four points above Fiorentina and a defeat could alter the calculations dramatically.

Parma Vs Siena - One of several relegation 'six pointers' with Parma, despite their lowly position, unbeaten at home since December and confident of victory over Luigi De Canio's side. Siena have hit a rough patch and last week's home defeat to Chievo leaves them still searching for survival. This could be the last home game for Parma striker Alberto Gilardino, who is widely tipped for a move at the end of the season.

Reggina Vs Lecce - In most circumstances a match between 12th and 11th in the penultimate round of games would be a meaningless mid-table kickabout. Yet in this year's Serie A this is a game both sides need to win to keep the sweat off their brows.

Reggina are without a win in five games while Lecce have won just two games away from home.

Sampdoria Vs Inter - Coppa Italia finalists Inter are sure of third place but they will now have a big say on whether Sampdoria join them in the qualifying round of the Champions League next season.

Inter coach Roberto Mancini is a former favourite of the Sampdoria fans from his playing days. His team produced an amazing comeback when the two met at the San Siro, winning 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in the final minute of normal time.

Serie A

Played Yesterday
Milan 3 Palermo 3
Serginho 8, 16 Costacurta 9 og
Tomasson 32 Toni 77 pen
Barone 79
HT: 3-1. Att: 60,000

Playing Tomorrow - 3 p.m.
Atalanta vs Roma (1-2)
Brescia vs Messina (0-2)
Cagliari vs Udinese (0-2)
Chievo vs Bologna (1-3)
Lazio vs Fiorentina (3-2)
Livorno vs Juventus (2-4)
Parma vs Siena (1-0)
Reggina vs Lecce (1-1)
Sampdoria vs Inter (2-3)

Serie B

Playing Today - 8.30 p.m.
Catanzaro vs Treviso (0-2)
Cesena vs Ascoli (0-4)
Empoli vs Genoa (2-3)
Modena vs Bari (2-2)
Perugia vs Arezzo (2-1)
Pescara vs Ternana (0-0)
Piacenza vs AlbinoLeffe (0-3)
Salernitana vs Catania (1-2)
Torino vs Triestina (1-0)
Venezia vs Crotone (0-2)
Vicenza vs Verona (3-5)

Bundesliga

Playing today
Kaiserslautern vs W. Bremen
Nuremberg vs Mainz
A. Bielefeld vs Wolfsburg
B. Leverkusen vs B. M'gladbach
B. Dortmund vs H. Rostock
Hamburg vs Bochum
H. Berlin vs Hanover
Freiburg vs Schalke
Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich

Primera Liga

Playing Today
Real Betis vs R. Zaragoza
Real Madrid vs A. Madrid

Playing Tomorrow
Albacete vs Real Sociedad
A. Bilbao vs Numancia
Deportivo vs Real Mallorca
Getafe vs Sevilla
Levante vs Valencia
Osasuna vs Espanyol
Barcelona vs Villarreal
Malaga vs R. Santander

Ligue 1

Playing today
Metz vs Paris SG
Sochaux vs Nantes
Bordeaux vs Monaco
Lille vs Ajaccio
Nice vs Auxerre
Marseille vs O. Lyon
Stade Rennes vs R. Strasbourg
St Etienne vs Istres
Bastia vs Racing Lens
Toulouse vs Caen