Milan: Juventus are practically assured of winning a seventh successive Serie A title after second-placed Napoli were held 2-2 by Torino Sunday.
Juventus have a six-point lead in Serie A with two games left to play. Both teams are equal in head-to-head clashes but Juventus are well ahead of their southern rivals on goal difference.
The champions now need just one point to officially retain their crown with games to come against Roma in the Stadio Olimpico and already-relegated Verona in Turin.
Torino twice battled back from a goal down to steal a point from Maurizio Sarri’s side who had been bidding for a first title since the days of Argentina legend Diego Maradona in 1987 and 1990.
Napoli’s last win was against Juventus in Turin two weeks ago. Dries Mertens celebrated his 31st birthday by putting Napoli ahead after 25 minutes after a shocking defensive error by Torino’s Nicolas Burdisso, with captain Marek Hamsik coming off the bench to add a second for the hosts and his 100th in Serie A after 71 minutes.
But Daniele Baselli pulled the visitors level 10 minutes into the second half with a dejected Sarri burying his head in his hands as Lorenzo De Silvestri headed in seven minutes from time to pull out a draw for Torino.
“I got angry because I want to finish the season as well as possible,” said the Napoli coach Sarri. “We must end the season on a high. These last two matches are very important because we can set a new all-time points record for this club,” he added.
Napoli and Juventus both won 1-0 away from home against each other this season, but the Turin giants (61) have a considerable edge over Napoli (45) in terms of goal difference.
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