Amid Controversy, Juve Takes Lead Into Last Round
Posted: Thursday May 11, 2000 12:31 PM
MILAN, Italy (AP) -- After surviving unscratched after bitter protests over disputed referee calls, Juventus takes a two-point lead over runner-up Lazio into the last round of the Italian Serie A.
A victory at Perugia will give Juventus a 26th league title in the 103-year history of the Turin team, long owned and financed by the Agnelli family of auto industrialists.
A draw, combined with a Lazio home victory against Reggina, would produce a first-place tie at 72 points and the first title playoff in 36 years.
The only time in Italy's soccer history that two teams finished even was in 1964, when Bologna went on to upset powerhouse Internazionale 2-0 in a playoff in Rome.
Other possible combinations included a loss by Juve and a win by Lazio, which would give the Rome team its first league title since 1974. If both teams draw in their matches this weekend, Juventus still clinches the title.
"On our side, we will fight for a victory through the last minute of play, hoping for a possible wonder by Perugia. However, Juventus is the favorite to clinch the title," said Sven Goran Eriksson, Lazio's Swedish coach.
A title loss despite a last-match victory would be a frustrating replay of last season's finish for Lazio.
The high-spending Roman club, owned by financier Sergio Cragnotti, finished one point behind AC Milan (70-69) in the 1998-99 campaign following a 2-1 win by the Milan team at Perugia and Lazio's home victory by the same score against Parma.
Whichever team wins the title, the season will be long remembered for what happened on May 7, when a referee denied Parma a goal against Juventus.
La Juve won the home game 1-0 after a last-minute goal by Parma's defender Fabio Cannavaro was declared null and void by referee Massimo De Santis for an alleged foul which could not be documented by television replays -- a weekly craze for Italian soccer fans.
If the goal had been allowed, Lazio would have tied Juventus for the league lead, boosting its title chances and likely its quotation in the stock market as well.
Lazio is the only Serie A club listed on the Milan stock market, Italy's largest.
"No doubt that all the controversy [about the denied goal] is making our possible title victory somewhat bitter," commented Juventus' captain-midfielder Antonio Conte.
De Santis faces possible disciplinary action.
Juventus' last league title, in 1998, was also marred by allegations about helpful referee decisions for the Turin team.
Soccer experts have been long debating about alleged "psychological conditioning" of the referees when they direct Serie A powerhouses.
Lazio's veteran forward Roberto Mancini suggested that wrong calls by the referees traditionally have helped big teams such as Juventus and AC Milan in the '90s.
Juventus' managing director Antonio Giraudo, while calling the allegations about last Sunday's "help" groundless, said he and Juventus fans would be glad if the title is decided by a playoff.
"In that case we would prove who's the strongest," Giraudo said.
For the match in Perugia, Juventus may be without key defender Mark Iuliano, who's nursing a muscle strain. Offense will be led by Filippo Inzaghi and imaginative Alessandro Del Piero, who scored the game winner against Parma last Sunday -- Del Piero's first goal from open play this season which added to eight season goals on penalties.
Lazio was expected to start an offensive-minded team at Rome's Olympic stadium, including Chilean striker Marcelo Salas, Argentine stars Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Simeone and Czech Pavel Nedved.
Yugoslav key defender Sinisa Mihajlkovic is sidelined with a thigh injury.
Both Perugia and Reggina, with 39 and 40 points respectively, have escaped relegation.
Perugia's striker Nicola Amoruso, a former forward of Juventus, said his team will engage hard.
Juventus enters the last of 34 season rounds with a record of 21-8-4, 46 goals scored and 19 allowed.
Lazio's record is 20-9-4 (61-33).
Sunday's round is also set to award Champions League berths for the next season.
La Juve and Lazio already clinched two, mathematically.
AC Milan, Internazionale and Parma are battling for the two remaining slots.
Third-place AC Milan (58 points) only needs a draw against Udinese while Inter and Parma, tied in fourth place with 55 points, may be forced to a playoff if they still are tied after Sunday's games against Cagliari and Lecce.
Cagliari, Piacenza, Venezia and Torino are the four teams being relegated to the Serie B (second division).
Riot police charge protesting fans
Riot police fired teargas and charged at groups of Lazio fans protesting disputed referee calls in front of the headquarters of the Italian soccer federation on Thursday.
Two people, suffering from light bruises, were hospitalized following the incident.
Police waded into the protesters when they hurled eggs, oranges and rocks at officers cordoning off the federation offices in downtown Rome.
About 200 Lazio supporters, waving flags with the white-and-blue colors of the Roman team, gathered in front of the federation headquarters to protest refereeing decisions allegedly penalizing their team in the running for the league title.
A referee's decision to void a last-minute goal scored by Parma in last Sunday's Serie A match against league leader Juventus has touched off a nationwide controversy and the fury of Lazio officials and supporters.
The decision preserved Juventus' 1-0 home win and a two-point lead over runner-up Lazio in the overall standings with one game to play.
