Malta Independent

Juventus and Barcelona celebrate league titles; Cup finals in England, Germany and Scotland

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There are cup finals in England and Germany, while the final rounds are played in the leagues in France, Italy and Spain where the titles have already been settled. ENGLAND Even if Chelsea beats Manchester United in the FA Cup final, Antonio Conte appears to be on his way out of the west London club.

Conte completed his first season in charge a year ago by losing the cup final to Arsenal but he had just collected the Premier League trophy. Relations with the club's hierarchy soured in the offseason and Chelsea mounted a pitiful defense of its title to finish last weekend in fifth place, missing out on Champions League qualificat­ion.

Even though United is yet to collect silverware this season, Jose Mourinho at least guided the team to second place, its highest finish since Alex Ferguson's final title win before retiring in 2013. GERMANY Eintracht Frankfurt will try and deny Bayern Munich a domestic double when the sides meet in the season-ending German Cup final in Berlin's Olympiasta­dion today.

Bayern, which clinched the Bundesliga with five rounds to spare, is aiming to send coach Jupp Heynckes off into his latest retirement with a final trophy. The return of Heynckes turned around Bayern's faltering start to the season.

Bayern's players will be facing their new coach as Niko Kovac completes his spell as Frankfurt coach. He lost last year's final to Borussia Dortmund. ITALY It's winner takes all at the Stadio Olimpico as Lazio hosts Inter Milan in the final Serie A match of the season, with both sides fighting for the last remaining Champions League berth.

The top four teams qualify for the Champions League. Juventus clinched a record-extending seventh successive league title last week, with Napoli second and Roma third.

Lazio is fourth but three points ahead of Inter. The teams drew 0-0 earlier so an Inter win on Sunday would see the Nerazzurri qualify thanks to a better head-to-head record.

Matters are as tense at the other end of the table with five teams desperate to avoid joining Benevento and Hellas Verona in being relegated.

Crotone, which visits Napoli, is 18th but level on points with Spal, which hosts Sampdoria.

Cagliari has a point more and it entertains Atalanta, which needs a point to beat Fiorentina into the final Europa League spot.

Chievo Verona and Udinese are two points above the drop zone and host Benevento and Bologna respective­ly.

The only other match today will be an emotional one as Juventus captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon plays his 656th and final game for the club when it hosts Hellas Verona. SPAIN The only thing left to settle in the final round is whether Real Madrid will be able to overcome Atletico Madrid for a symbolic runner-up finish behind Barcelona.

In the last five seasons, Atletico has finished third on each occasion apart from when it won the title in 2014. All the newly crowned Europa League champion requires to finish second is a draw at Eibar on Sunday as it is three points ahead of Real Madrid.

Given its superior goal difference, Real Madrid would finish second with a win at Villarreal on Saturday if Atletico loses the next day. The head-to-head tiebreaker would not come into play because the Madrid teams drew both derbies.

Barcelona completes the season against Real Sociedad on Sunday, having missed out on the chance to go through the season unbeaten when it lost at Levante last weekend.

The fourth Champions League place has already been secured by Valencia.

Villarreal, Real Betis and Sevilla will be playing in the Europa League.

Deportivo La Coruna, Las Palmas and Malaga were relegated.

Today Chelsea-Manchester Utd

League Two

Yesterday Notts County-Coventry ..................... 1-4

ITALY

Serie A

Today Juventus-Verona Tomorrow Genoa-Torino Milan-Fiorentina Cagliari-Atalanta Chievo-Benevento Napoli-Crotone Spal-Sampdoria Udinese-Bologna Lazio-Inter Sassuolo-Roma

Serie B

Yesterday Ascoli-Brescia .................................... 0-0 Bari-Carpi .......................................... 2-0 Cesena-Cremonese ........................... 1-0 Cittadella-Pro Vercelli ....................... 2-0 Empili-Perugia ................................... 2-1 Frosinone-Foggia .............................. 2-2 Novara-Entella .................................. 0-1 Salernitan­a-Palermo ......................... 0-2 Spezia-Parma .................................... 0-2 Ternana-Avellino ............................... 1-2 Venezia-Pescara ................................ 0-0

Standings

Empoli Parma Frosinone Palermo Venezia Bari Cittadella Perugia Foggia Spezia Carpi Salernitan­a Cesena Cremonese Avellino Brescia Pescara Ascoli Entella Novara Pro Vercelli Ternana DFB Pokal P W D L F A Pts 42 24 13 5 88 49 85 42 21 9 12 57 37 72 42 19 15 8 65 47 72 42 18 17 7 59 39 71 42 17 16 9 56 42 67 42 18 13 11 59 48 67 42 18 12 12 61 48 66 42 16 12 14 67 58 60 42 16 10 16 66 68 58 42 13 14 15 46 45 53 42 12 16 14 32 46 52 42 11 18 13 51 58 51 42 11 17 14 55 61 50 42 9 21 12 48 47 48 42 11 15 16 49 60 48 42 11 15 16 41 52 48 42 11 15 16 50 64 48 42 11 13 18 40 60 46 42 10 14 18 41 54 44 42 10 14 18 42 52 44 42 9 13 20 47 70 40 42 7 16 19 62 77 37

Today Bayern Munich-E.Frankfurt

Today Celtic-Motherwell

Today Celta Vigo-Levante Leganes-Real Betis Las Palmas-Girona Malaga-Getafe Sevilla-Alaves Villarreal-Real Madrid Tomorrow Valencia-Deportivo Athletic Bilbao-Espanyol Atletico Madrid-Eibar Barcelona-Real Sociedad

GERMANY SCOTLAND SPAIN

 ??  ?? Last match for Buffon with Juventus this afternoon
Last match for Buffon with Juventus this afternoon

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