With the title officially heading to Inter, Juventus lost the chance to be league champions ten times in a row. However, the Bianconeri have plenty left to play for, as they find themselves in an almighty scuffle for the Champions League spots.
While the writing has been on the wall for some time now, Juventus were officially denied the chance to become the Serie A champions for the tenth time in a row on Sunday. Inter Milan secured the Scudetto as second-placed Atalanta could only draw against Sassuolo. The Nerazzurri have secured the top spot in the league, but behind them, the race for the Champions League spots is hotting up. The contenders for the three remaining places are Atalanta, AC Milan, Juventus, Napoli, and Lazio.
With the exception of Atalanta, all of the other Champions League-chasing teams recorded wins this weekend. Juventus were the last to join the party, as they beat Udinese in their league encounter thanks to a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Udinese took the lead in the tenth minute of the match through Nahuel Molina. Rodrigo De Paul played in the wingback following a freekick, with the Bianconeri defence caught unaware. The 23-year-old strolled into the Juventus box and blasted the ball in the roof of the net to give his side the lead.
Former Watford forward Stefano Okaka had the chance to put Udinese two-goals up shortly after the half-time interval, but the forward somehow missed the target from inside the box. Juventus took advantage of Udinese’s slip-up and grew into the match. They were awarded a penalty in the 82nd minute as De Paul was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box from a Ronaldo freekick. The Portuguese forward stepped up to take the spot-kick and scored past the goal-keeper.
Juventus broke Udinese hearts when they took the lead in the 89th minute. Ronaldo scored again for the Bianconeri, as he converted an Adrien Rabiot through ball from an acute angle. Andrea Pirlo’s side held on to their lead for what remained of the match. They took the three points home with them, along with a top-four spot in the league table.
