European round-up: Scudetto hangs in the balance after Napoli and Inter Milan held to dramatic draws

The race for the Scudetto in Serie A is going to the wire.

Napoli could have clinched the title on Sunday with a victory over Parma and an Inter Milan defeat to Lazio. However, they were made to wait as the penultimate round of games in Italy’s top-flight proved dramatic.

The title was settled in the Eredivisie, however, as an epic battle between PSV Eindhoven and Ajax reached a conclusion.

Parma 0-0 Napoli

Napoli will head into the final day of the Serie A season with the Scudetto race still in their own hands, but Antonio Conte’s men stuttered again on a tense night at the Stadio Ennio Tardini.

Having been held to a 2-2 draw at home to Genoa last time out, the Partenopei produced another off-colour display, though Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Matteo Politano and Scott McTominay all hit the woodwork, the latter seeing his free-kick tipped onto the bar by Zion Suzuki.

An injury-time altercation saw Conte and Parma counterpart Cristian Chivu both dismissed, and there was more drama to come as David Neres went down in the area in the 97th minute, leading the referee to immediately point to the spot.

But, after a long VAR check, the decision was reversed for a foul by Napoli in the build-up, leaving them to settle a point that Conte – who will be banned from the touchline for the finale – and his players still celebrated wildly, safe in the knowledge their rivals had also slipped up.

Inter Milan 2-2 Lazio

Inter twice appeared primed to take the lead of the title race in a thrilling game at San Siro, but their fate will not be in their hands when they visit Como on the final day.

Yann Bisseck gave Inter the lead when he lashed into the top-left corner from close range in first-half stoppage time, but Pedro levelled for Lazio, slotting in after some haphazard Inter defending with a goal initially ruled out for offside before VAR intervened.

Denzel Dumfries powered in a header at the far post to restore Inter’s lead 10 minutes from the end of normal time, but again Pedro responded, albeit this time in far more dramatic circumstances.

Lazio initially had a late penalty claim for handball against Bisseck waved away. However, VAR came to Lazio’s aid again as, after a lengthy review and amid chaotic scenes that saw Inter boss Simone Inzaghi and Lazio’s Marco Baroni sent off, the penalty was awarded.

Pedro calmly dispatched the spot-kick and, though Marko Arnautovic had a late winner disallowed for offside, Inter could not find the decisive goal.

Napoli lead the Scudetto race by a point going into the final round of games. They host Cagliari, with Inter pinning their hopes on a massive favour from the Sardinian side.

Juventus 2-0 Udinese

Juventus have the edge in the race for the fourth and final Champions League qualification place in Serie A following their 2-0 win over Udinese.

Nicolas Gonzalez and Dusan Vlahovic gave Juve victory, which leaves them a point ahead of fifth-placed Roma heading into the final day.

Roma overcame AC Milan 3-1 to end the Rossoneri’s hopes of European qualification. Milan had Santiago Gimenez sent off in the 21st minute, but levelled through Joao Felix six minutes before half-time, Gianluca Mancini having given Roma a third-minute lead.

Yet second-half goals from Leandro Paredes and Bryan Cristante secured victory for Roma in Claudio Ranieri’s final home game in charge.

Lazio are a point further behind Juve ahead of the finale, in which they will host Lecce. Roma visit Torino and Juve are away at Venezia.

PSV edge Ajax to Eredivisie crown

In the Netherlands, PSV needed only to match Ajax’s result to secure a second successive Eredivisie title.

They did just that, as a 3-1 victory over Sparta Rotterdam kept the trophy at Philips Stadion.

There were some nerves early in the second half when Gjivai Zechiel cancelled out Ivan Perisic’s opener.

However, goals from Luuk de Jong and Malik Tillman finished the job for PSV as they won the title by a point.

Ajax, who had been nine points clear of PSV at the top after beating them in March, have not won the title since 2022. Their 2-0 win over Twente, which featured goals from Jordan Henderson and Wout Weghorst, proved immaterial.

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