Torino’s Juric racially abused during Spezia win
Roma’s top four hopes end
Torino coach Ivan Juric became the latest victim of racist abuse in Serie A during his team’s 4-0 win at Spezia yesterday, while Roma’s top four hopes ended with a 2-1 defeat at Fiorentina.
Spezia’s bid for survival was hit with yesterday’s thrashing which left them at risk of falling into the drop zone, and after the match former Croatia midfielder Juric bemoaned being called ‘gypsy’ towards the end of the first half.
The Italian word for gypsy is often used by sections of football supporters as a racial slur for players from the Balkans and eastern Europe, regardless of their ethnicity.
Dejan Stankovic was insulted in the same way by Roma fans last month, and yesterday, the abuse was such that the match was briefly stopped by referee Marco Guida.
“We had the usual insults, after a while it really becomes unpleasant. It’s not a nice thing for anyone. The referee was good and calmed things down but it’s still a bad feeling. It’s not OK, that’s for sure,” Juric told reporters.
“If that stuff happens you say ‘I won’t react, I won’t react, leave it’. That’s my idea to not cause problems but after a while it becomes really unpleasant. When the people react you have to understand because you feel really offended.”
Przemyslaw Wisniewski’s unfortunate own goal midway through the first half and fine finishes from Samuele Ricci, Ivan Ilic and Yann Karamoh in the final 20 minutes left Spezia a point above the bottom three.
Leonardo Semplici’s side will drop into the relegation zone with one game remaining if Verona beat already-safe Empoli in today’s early fixture.
A straight-forward win moved Torino up to eighth and was good news for Lecce who are two points above Spezia in 16th.
Lecce are at Monza this afternoon but could start their fixture behind Verona if they beat Empoli.
A late collapse in Florence officially ended Roma’s dwindling chance of reaching the
Champions League via Serie A placing in a battle of teams in European finals.
With one league match left Jose Mourinho’s side are four points off fourth spot, held by Milan who are at troubled Juventus tonight, after strikes from Luka Jovic and Jonathan Ikone turned the match around in the final five minutes.
Roma lined up with a largely second-string team in preparation for the Europa League final against Sevilla on Wednesday, while ninth-placed Fiorentina have a week more to prepare for their Europa Conference League final with West Ham.
The away side had led from the 12th minute thanks to Stephan El
Shaarawy’s seventh Serie A goal of the season, tapped in from Ola Solbakken’s knockdown.
However the only way they can now reach Europe’s top club competition is by beating their Spanish opposition in Budapest midweek.
Inter, who are in next month’s Champions League final, secured qualification for next season’s edition after beating fifth-placed Atalanta 3-2 at the San Siro.
Romelu Lukaku fired Inter away within seconds and Nicolo Barella made it two in the third minute. Mario Pasalic and an own goal from goalkeeper Andre Onana put Atalanta on the scoresheet but Lautaro Martinez assured the win for Inter.
Bologna vs Napoli .............. 15.00 Verona vs Empoli ............... 12.30 Monza vs Lecce .................. 15.00 Lazio vs Cremonese ........... 18.00 Juventus vs Milan .............. 20.45 Sevilla vs R. Madrid ............... 1-2
TODAY – 19.00
Almeria vs R. Valladolid .............. A. Bilbao vs Elche ........................ A. Madrid vs R. Sociedad ............ Barcelona vs Mallorca ................. Cadiz vs Celta Vigo ...................... Getafe vs Osasuna ....................... Girona vs R. Betis ........................ R. Vallecano vs Villarreal ............ Valencia vs Espanyol ...................
Angers vs Troyes ................... 2-1 Clermont vs Lorient ............... 2-0 Lens vs Ajaccio ...................... 3-0 Lille vs Nantes ....................... 2-1 Lyon vs Reims ........................ 3-0 Marseille vs Brest .................. 1-2 Montpellier vs Nice ................ 2-3 Rennes vs Monaco ................. 2-0 Strasbourg vs PSG ................. 1-1 Toulouse vs Auxerre .............. 1-1