Inter’s goalless draw with ACF Fiorentina on Wednesday left Juventus needing just one more win to claim a ninth consecutive Serie A title.
Antonio Conte’s Inter are third, one point behind second-placed Atalanta BC and seven behind Juve with three games to play, despite having dominated for long periods in the rain at San Siro.
“Second place is for losers,” said Conte, who coached Juventus to three of their eight consecutive titles, and then went on to win the English Premier League and FA Cup with Chelsea.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I understand that there are those who are satisfied with this, but for me it is meaningless,” he said. “When you lose points, it means that there are shortcomings.”
A Romelu Lukaku header hit the woodwork after 18 minutes and Alexis Sanchez also missed a good chance just after halftime.
Fiorentina goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano pulled off a string of saves, denying Nicolo Barella and Lukaku from close range.
Inter’s place in the UEFA Champions League next season is assured, but they could finish as low as fourth, with SS Lazio four points back ahead of their match with 13th-placed Cagliari yesterday.
“This year we have reaped less than what we have sown,” Conte said. “We’re trying to work on the mentality and increase the killer instinct, which a great team must have to fight for something important, but I’m happy that the players are disappointed with the result, because it means that my work is having an impact.”
Conte took over at Inter in the summer last year, hoping to lead the team to their first league title since 2009-2010, the year of their unprecedented treble under Jose Mourinho.
Elsewhere, AS Roma moved back into fifth place ahead of AC Milan, who beat US Sassuolo on Tuesday, after routing already-relegated SPAL 6-1.
Bruno Peres scored a second-half brace, with Carles Perez scoring his first Serie A goal for the visitors. Nikola Kalinic and Nicolo Zaniolo were also on target.
Zaniolo’s goal in the final minute was a superb individual run and finish, and it came after rumors of the rising star’s involvement in a dressing room bust-up.
Roma are two points ahead of Milan, with the two teams already assured of a spot in the UEFA Europa League next season.
SSC Napoli were seventh, three points further back, after falling 2-1 at Parma.
Gianluca Caprari and Dejan Kulusevski ended a miserable run for Parma in a match in which all three goals were scored from the penalty spot.
A run of six defeats and one draw in Parma’s previous seven matches was brought to an end thanks to the two spot-kicks, which came late in each half.
It was a second loss since the resumption of the league for Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli, who have already qualified for the Europa League after winning the Coppa Italia.
At the bottom of the table, Genoa beat city rivals UC Sampdoria 2-1 to stay four points ahead of US Lecce, who occupy the final relegation place.
Lecce beat Brescia 3-1 to condemn their opponents to Serie B next season.
Torino edged closer to safety after drawing 1-1 with Hellas Verona.
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