Juventus' lead in the Serie A was slashed to just two points yesterday after they were sensationally beaten 2-0 by lowly Verona while title rivals Lazio beat Venezia 3-2.
Verona's Fabrizio Cammarata dramatically reopened the Italian championship with just two matches left to play - scoring in each half to beat a Juventus side who looked to be cruising to their 26th league title.
Juventus stay top with 68 points, but Lazio are now right behind them with 66. Argentinean Diego Simeone opened the scoring for Lazio in the 38th minute and Inzaghi added the second in firsthalf stoppage time. Midfielder Francesco Pedone brought Venezia back into the match in the 58th minute but Lazio's nerves were settled in the 83rd when their Yugoslav defender Sinisa Mihajlovic sent over a corner and Venezia striker Filippo Maniero headed the ball into his own net.
Those nerves were a little too settled to stop Maurizio Ganz from scoring in the third minute of injury-time - but the final whistle was only seconds away and the precious points were in the bag.
Behind the top two sides, AC and Inter Milan emerged as favourites for Italy's two places in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League after both notched important victories.
AC Milan scored a drab 1-0 win over already relegated Piacenza, with midfielder Massimo Ambrosini scoring the winner in the 13th minute. Milan are now third in the table with 57pts, ahead of Inter and Parma, both on 55pts.
Barcelona, fined and expelled from next year's Spanish Cup for refusing to play Atletico Madrid in a semi-final last Monday, won 3-0 in a league clash between the two sides. The win kept Barcelona in second place in the first division with 62 points after 35 games. Deportivo Coruna lead with 64 points and have played one game less. At the other end of the table Atletico occupy the penultimate position and became the first team in the top flight of Spanish soccer to concede 60 goals this season.
Real Madrid moved up to third with 59 points from 35 games after beating Espanyol 2-0 in the Montjuic Olympic stadium.
They avenged their surprise midweek Spanish Cup defeat at the same venue by the Barcelona-based side thanks to second-half goals from Bosnian striker Elvir Balic and Spanish international Raul Gonzalez.
Valencia kept alive their chances of finishing in the top four after tearing apart Rayo Vallecano 3-1 to move up to fifth.
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