Juventus secures Champions League berth with wild win at relegated Venezia
ROME (AP) — Igor Tudor was hired in March to make sure that Juventus qualified for the Champions League.
He fulfilled the goal — albeit barely — when the Bianconeri won 3-2 at Venezia in the final round of Serie A on Sunday to finish fourth.
Juventus finished one point ahead of Roma, which won 2-0 at Torino to secure a Europa League spot.
Venezia, which was relegated along with Empoli, surprised Juventus with an early goal from Daniel Fila in the second minute.
Kenan Yildiz and Randal Kolo Muani struck back to put Juventus in control after 31 minutes.
Ridgeciano Haps equalized after the break for Venezia before Manuel Locatelli restored Juve's lead with a penalty.
Tudor replaced the fired Thiago Motta and was given a contract through the end of the season. There was speculation that his contract included an automatic renewal in case of Champions League qualification but Juventus now appears interested in rehiring Antonio Conte, who just led Napoli to the title.
Ranieri's finale
Leandro Paredes converted a first-half penalty and Alexis Saelemaekers headed in after the break for Roma in the final match of Claudio Ranieri's coaching career.
Roma was 12th when Ranieri was hired in November and the Giallorossi lost just once during the second half of the season.
Fiorentina in Conference League
Fiorentina leapfrogged Lazio into sixth to take the Conference League spot with a 3-2 win at 10-man Udinese.
Moise Kean scored the decisive goal for Fiorentina with a deflected shot.
Lazio lost 1-0 at home to 10-man Lecce, which got a first-half goal from Lassana Coulibaly, and was left out of Europe.
Maldini brace
Daniel Maldini scored two goals in a minute for Atalanta in a 3-2 loss to Parma.
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First, Maldini slid in to redirect a cross then he scored with a long-range effort.
Substitute Jacob Ondrejka scored two late goals for Parma to make sure his team avoided relegation.
Empoli lost 2-1 to Hellas Verona.
___
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