Down to the wire...

Juve have one hand on a 29th Scudetto after a late victory in the Derby della Mole against Torino.  Goals from Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio sealed the points but Napoli’s victory over doomed Pescara meant Juve will have to wait until this week’s game at home to Palermo to be crowned champions.

Action from Derby della Mole.  Picture courtesy of www.football-italia.net

In prolonging Juve’s wait for the title, Napoli also virtually secured second place in Serie A.  Seven points clear of Milan should be enough to secure the runners up place.

The race for the final Champions League place is hotting up as Milan and Fiorentina battle it out.  Just one point separates these two but Il Viola may well sneak into third as, on paper at least, they have an easier run-in with games against the teams at the bottom, including the Tuscan derby with Siena.

One of the Europa League places will be taken by one of the teams mentioned above, but the final spot is a battle between four teams.  Separated by only three points Roma, Udinese, Inter and Lazio are all in contention.  Inter v Udinese on the final day will not be for the faint hearted.

At the bottom Pescara are adrift and will be relegated if they lose away at fellow strugglers Genoa.  The other two places will go down to the wire as Siena, Genoa and Palermo are all within two points of each other.  Palermo and Genoa both earned vital wins last week with victories over Inter and Chievo respectively.  Siena were thumped 4-0 by Roma.  This will be too close to call.

Marco Borriello, Genoa  Picture courtesy of www.tempi.it

The race to replace these teams is just as close.  Sassuolo are three games away from the promised land, with Livorno looking likely to join them.  Verona have a lot to do to snatch automatic promotion and may have to try their luck through the play offs.

Who said Italian football was dull?

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