Juve secure Serie A glory
A review of the weekend's action in the Italian Serie A as Juventus wrapped up a fourth straight Serie A title.
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Juventus wrapped up their fourth straight Serie A title after a routine 1-0 win over Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
The Old Lady had been 14 points clear of their nearest rivals Lazio ahead of the game and made sure of the Scudetto thanks to Arturo Vidal's goal.
Vidal was able to head in off the post from a Stephan Lichtsteiner cross on 32 minutes, continuing the Chilean's good run of form for Juventus.
It means the pressure now shifts to Juventus' Champions League semi-final clash against Real Madrid, with coach Massimiliano Allegri having rested some players for Saturday's match against Sampdoria.
It could have proven tricky with hosts Sampdoria themselves chasing a Europa League spot, but Juventus duly clinched their title, rekindling memories of their success in the 1930s when the Bianconeri won five straight league titles.
Also on Saturday, Sassuolo and Palermo shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw which reflected the lethargy of two teams who have already reached their objectives this season.
There were only two big chances - one for Sassuolo's Simone Zaza and the other for Palermo's Paulo Dybala - in a game in which neither side displayed any great determination to break the deadlock.
On Sunday Roma climbed to second place in the table with a 2-0 home triumph over Genoa.
Seydou Doumbia put the hosts on their way in the 35th minute before Alessandro Florenzi doubled Roma's lead seconds from time to condemn Genoa to their 10th defeat of the season.
Lazio failed to reclaim second spot after being held to a 1-1 draw at Atalanta.
Giuseppe Biava put Atalanta ahead four minutes into the second half before Lazio's Marco Parolo equalised in the 77th minute.
The visitors could not find the winner as Atalanta defended deeply to earn a valuable point in their battle to retain their Serie A status.
Josip Ilicic struck twice in the first half as Fiorentina halted a four-match losing streak with a 3-1 home victory over strugglers Cesena.
The outcome in Florence has lifted Fiorentina above Sampdoria and into fifth place in the standings.
Inter Milan failed to take full advantage of slip-ups involving rivals for a place in the Europa League next season as they were held to a goalless draw at home to Chievo.
Udinese ensured they will compete in Serie A again next season after claiming a 1-0 victory at Hellas Verona.
Antonio Di Natale came off the bench to score the only goal of the game in the 62nd minute.
In the evening, AC Milan had Mattia De Sciglio sent off inside a minute as they slipped to a 3-0 defeat at Napoli, who moved to within four points of third-placed Lazio.
De Sciglio saw red just 45 seconds into the contest, but it took Napoli 70 minutes to make their extra man count, with Marek Hamsik putting them in front.
Gonzalo Higuain and Manolo Gabbiadini added two more in quick succession to seal the points for Rafael Benitez's men and leave Filippo Inzaghi's Milan all but mathematically out of the running for a place in Europe next season.
