38th round: "Juventus" defended the champions title

2006-05-14 19:40 © EuroFootball.com

On Sunday, the last, 38th round of the Italian championship took place. Turin's Juventus defended the title won last year, while Fiorentina secured a place in the next year's Champions League.

Juventus won their 29th "Scudetto" in their history, defeating the bottom team Reggina 2-0 away. It was the first game for the Turin footballers after the scandal that shook Italian football, after which the entire Juventus board resigned.

The match, which was played on a neutral field due to the poor behavior of Reggina fans in the previous round, was supposed to start without one of the leaders, Patrick Vieira. Reggina had to do without Ivano Franchescini and Alessandro Lucarelli.

The match started with threats from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Emerson to the opponent's goalkeeper and a dangerous penalty kick from Reggina player Ciccio Cozza, but the goal was not scored. A few minutes later, Reggina players had another chance, but Luca Vigiani's shot flew just beside the post. However, this was one of the last actions of this player in the match - in the 21st minute, he left the field due to injury.

And just two minutes later, Juventus took the lead. Fabio Cannavaro's shot from a corner was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, but the ball first reached the French forward of the Turin club, David Trezeguet, who just had to push the ball into the empty net. Zlatan Ibrahimovic also tried to shoot with his heel, but the Swede slipped and the shot was unsuccessful.

A few minutes later, Reggina defenders had to stop Pavel Nedved's run towards the goal, and Mauro Camoranesi demanded a penalty kick for the opponent's goalkeeper's handball, but the referee remained silent.

At the beginning of the second half, Emerson's header flew just inches wide of the post, while Ivan Pelizzoli made a great save on a dangerous shot by David Trezeguet. In the 72nd minute, Juventus players briefly thought they had scored the second goal, but David Trezeguet's shot on goal in the last second before the goal line was cleared by a Reggina defender.

Nevertheless, the Turin club managed to score the second goal when the team's captain Alessandro Del Piero appeared on the field after a substitution and with a great shot defeated the opponent's goalkeeper, leaving no doubts about who will be the 2006 Serie A champion.

Meanwhile, finishing in second place, Milan snatched a victory at home in the last minutes against Roma with a score of 2-1. This defeat meant that the capital club will definitely not play in the Champions League next year, relinquishing this privilege to the Fiorentina team.

In the Milan team, Jaap Stam, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, and Chelsea-connected Andriy Shevchenko did not play. The visitors could not count on Christian Chivu, Alberto Aquilani, and Samuel Kuffour, but Francesco Totti started the match from the bench.

Shortly after the start of the match, the referee awarded a penalty kick to Milan for a foul by Leandro Cufre on Alberto Gilardino in the penalty area. Kaka took the penalty kick and his shot put the Milan players ahead. A few minutes later, Alberto Gilardino failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity to score, and Filippo Inzaghi's goal was disallowed due to offside.

Despite Milan's dangerous attacks, it was their opponents who scored a goal. Philippe Mexes' header flew straight at Milan's goalkeeper Dida, but the Brazilian made a mistake and the ball went into the net. Then Roma's leader Francesco Totti entered the field, replacing Olivier Dacourt.

However, the situation on the field did not change - Milan players controlled the game. Filippo Inzaghi and Kaka posed a threat to the opponent's goal. Occasionally, the visitors also had their chances - towards the end of the match, Rodrigo Taddei was very close to putting his team ahead, but Milan goalkeeper Dida managed to save this shot.

However, the hosts managed to snatch victory - already in stoppage time, Alberto Gilardino earned another penalty kick for his team, which this time was converted by Brazilian Marcio Amoroso.

After a few years of a break, Fiorentina once again secured the opportunity to play in the Champions League - defeating Chievo 2-0 away, the club secured fourth place in the Italian championship. The visitors took the lead in the 21st minute when Luca Toni scored his 31st goal of the season. Stefano Fiore's shot hit the crossbar, but the rebound went straight to Luca Toni, who sent the ball into the net.

Meanwhile, the second goal of the Florence club came five minutes before the end of the match. Stefano Fiore crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Dario Dainelli sent it into the net, securing three points for his team. After this goal, several Fiorentina fans ran onto the field to celebrate - thus marking a successful season for the Florence club.

In a match that ended goalless, Siena and Livorno played out a draw. Livorno had several good chances to score, but the team's players couldn't beat the solid Siena goalkeeper.

Empoli took the lead against Ascoli but Empoli's player Francesco Pratalli received a red card and with only ten Empoli players on the field, they conceded two goals and lost 1-2.

Both goals for Ascoli were scored in the last twenty minutes of the game by Croatian Igor Budan and in the Empoli team, Francesco Tavano, among the top scorers of the championship, as well as Andrea Shevchenko and Alessandro Lucarelli.

Sampdoria finished a poor season with a shameful 1-3 home defeat against Lecce. Axel Cedric Konan scored two goals for Lecce, but this match did not please the club very much, as it was already clear before this match that the club would play in the lower Serie B league next year.

Treviso won only their third game this season, beating Udinese 2-1 at home, who played most of the game with ten players. The visitors took the lead with a goal from Mirko Pieri in the 16th minute, but Treviso players took advantage of their numerical superiority to finish the season with a win thanks to two goals from Marco Borriello.

Results of the 38th round: