Milan draw hands Juventus Serie A title
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-21 10:52

Juventus claimed their 28th Italian league title on Friday without kicking a ball after rivals AC Milan were held to a 3-3 draw at home by Palermo.

The result leaves Juve, who have two games remaining, four points clear of last year's title winners 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 on Sunday 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. ADVERTISEMENT

"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.

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Tomasson blamed Milan's involvement in Europe until the final stage for the title loss.

"The difference between us and Juve this season was that we played more games," said the Denmark striker.

Juve were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Liverpool and beat Milan in the decisive head-to-head Serie A game at San Siro four days after their opponent's beat PSV Eindhoven in the semi-finals.

Juve coach Fabio Capello has now won titles with four different clubs -- AC Milan, AS 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 milestone for Juventus defender Ciro Ferrara who equalled the record eight Serie A titles won 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.

There was an air of anti-climax surrounding the title win with few signs of celebration reported in Turin.

Juve have imposed a press ban on all players and staff and did not immediately issue any comment after winning the title.

The club have refused to talk to the media since May 1, saying they wanted to "avoid any arguments" and "focus all attention on the games to be played".

Juve said they suspected that attempts were being made to "damage the club" during the title run-in.

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