The day of the verdicts. In terms of Europe, where Juventus, Roma and Lazio are challenging each other from a distance to establish the hierarchies (Fiorentina is also in the running, even if only for the Conference) and in terms of salvation, with Verona, Parma, Lecce, Empoli and Venezia (in strict order of standings) battling to avoid the hell of Serie B. In Venice, Tudor's Juve is called upon to dispel the travel sickness to secure the Champions League and close the circle. In Turin, Ranieri's Roma is looking for an away win to complete an exciting run. At the Olimpico, however, Lazio is challenging Lecce with the hope of taking advantage of some missteps by others. Six challenges at the same time, intertwined destinies, a standings still in the balance. Between calculations, tension and European dreams, the Series A is getting ready for close the doors with a thriller ending. In the meantime, Milan's championship has also ended, but the match against Monza, more than for the final 2-0 (goals by Gabbia and Joao Felix), has hit the headlines for the very harsh protests of the fans, aimed at the owners, managers (not even Ibrahimovic was spared) and players.
Venice – Juventus (20.45pm, Dazn and Sky)
Last effort before the revolution. The Champions League is there, but to make it theirs Juventus must deal with travel sickness. Since Tudor took over the reins of the team, darkness has fallen outside their friendly walls: 0 wins, one defeat (in Parma) and three draws in as many direct clashes (Roma, Bologna and Lazio). And now, on the last day, they need to change gear. A draw won't be enough in Venice: to avoid having to hold your breath watching Roma's result, they need to return to Turin with the full loot. Translated: win or risk throwing everything up in the air. And yet, the work of Tudor so far it has been anything but a waste of time, in light of an improved points average (from 1,79 to 1,88), a revitalized team and a Champions League zone that has recovered with character. But now the final blow is needed, the last piece to complete the puzzle. The Penzo will be the last obstacle. A pitch, the Venetian one, where Juve has not lost since the distant April 1962, even if the lagoon team has won 2 of the last 3 home games and has no intention of being an extra. Travel sickness, however, is not a recent thing, given that the problem has been dragging on since the management of Thiago Motta. If only away games were counted, the Old Lady would be sixth in the standings. Away from the Allianz, the team scores less (24 goals against 31), concedes more (18 to 15) and above all collects fewer points (1,50 against 2,11). In any case, the Champions League qualification passes through Venice and the only way to get it (except for help from Turin and Lecce) is to break the spell and return to winning away from home, something that hasn't happened for over three months (Cagliari, February 23). If Juve is fighting for Europe that counts, Venice is clinging to the last thread of hope to stay in Serie A. Only a victory can keep them alive, even if then they will have to cross their fingers and hope for a double favor from Lazio and Verona, busy against Lecce and Empoli. A titanic undertaking, but Di Francesco doesn't want to leave any stone unturned: for pride, for the fans (Penzo sold out), and maybe even to give a hand to his old Roma, whose European destiny is tied precisely to this match.
Tudor: “Focus on the last step. My future? This is not the time to talk about it”
“You will need your head and heart, you have to sweat until the end – Tudor underlined -. It is certainly an important match, but it must be prepared like all the others, focusing, as I always say, on things on the pitch. With me all the games were fundamental and this team has made almost no mistakes. The boys give me confidence for tomorrow, they want to take what is due to them. This week there was a bit of everything: expectations and concentration. This is the thing that represents me the most, I want to do my best to help my players and make them understand where we can hurt Venezia and improve. My future? I don't want to talk about myself, it's ugly. I think a good job has been done with my staff, but now I'm focused on this last step, you have to be on the ball and play a match that will be difficult and demanding. This is not the time, I'm happy with the work done and I want to take this last step to complete everything."
Venezia – Juventus, probable formations
Venice (3-5-2): Radu; Schingtienne, Candé, Haps; Zerbin, Kike Perez, Nicolussi Caviglia, Busio, Ellertsson; Gytkjaer, Yeboah
On the bench: Joronen, Grandi, Stankovic, Sagrado, Zampano, Marcandalli, Sverko, Carboni, Bjarkason, Doumbia, Fila, Maric, Oristanio
Coach: Di Francesco
Unavailable: Duncan, Svoboda, Conde
Disqualified: Idzes
Juventus (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Alberto Costa, Kelly, Savona; Nico Gonzalez, Locatelli, Thuram, Cambiaso; Conceicao, Yildiz; Vlahovic
On the bench: Perin, Pinsoglio, Gatti, Veiga, Rouhi, Douglas Luiz, McKennie, Weah, Koopmeiners, Adzic, Mbangula, Kolo Muani
Coach: Tudor
Unavailable: Milik, Bremer, Cabal
Disqualified: Kalulu
Turin – Rome (20.45pm, Dazn)
Success is guaranteed, but the dimension is still to be written. After having reached the milestone of 500 benches in Serie A and led Roma to best performance of 2025 among the five major European leagues, Claudio Ranieri is playing it all on the last day in Turin against Vanoli's Granata. The Champions League dream is at stake, but also the concrete possibility of securing a place in the Europa League. And, the icing on the cake, finishing the championship ahead of Lazio. For the Giallorossi fans it would be a double satisfaction: access to Europe and overtaking their cousins, which is not just a question of the standings, but a matter of the heart and identity. Because in the Capital the derby is eternal, and is played well beyond the 90 minutes of the Olimpico. Just last Sunday, beating Milan, Roma managed for the first time this season to overtake Lazio in the standings. Ranieri knows how much that city record weighs, he who, as a coach, is undefeated in derbies (five wins and a draw) now wants to win this challenge from a distance too. The match in Turin has thus become a disguised final: Europe is there, one step away, but a final effort is needed. Sir Claudio, even knowing that the dream passes first and foremost through Juve (and the former Giallorossi Di Francesco), wants to believe in it until the end, with the determination of someone who has come back from the bottom and now can glimpse the finish line. Just look at the numbers to understand the sporting miracle: in the second half of the season, Roma has won 43 points, more than anyone else in Italy (six more than Napoli, thirteen more than Lazio). And to think that at the beginning of January, before the first leg of the derby, the Giallorossi were -15 from the Biancocelesti, while today they are at +1. Before the final balance, however, there is still one last stage, far from interlocutory: between Champions, Europa League and Conference there is a world to be played in 90 minutes as hot as ever.
Ranieri: “I'm only thinking about the match, we'll try until the last second”
"The training was great, focused as always, with great determination from the lads," Ranieri said. "This makes me calm, because I know that we will be facing a great team that wants to do well, wants to close out its championship well, playing at home. Torino has great players, a great coach, young, but very good and will want to do well. We will have to sweat for it, as will all those who want to achieve their goals. I am focused on the match, then maybe in the following days I will think about everything that has happened to me in these days. First of all I wanted to thank the Roma fans, I didn't expect something like this the other night. I didn't expect such a wonderful setting and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. We are getting closer, as I have always said, until the last second of the last match. We have entered Europe, we don't know which Europe, but we must leave the field aware that we have given our all. Will the next coach be able to create empathy with the fans? I don't think about how he will be welcomed, but when he leaves the fans will be sorry. This is what I hope".
Torino – Roma, probable formations
Turin (4-2-3-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Dembele, Maripan, Masina, Biraghi; Ricci, Casadei; Lazaro, Vlasic, Elmas; Adams
On the bench: Paleari, Donnarumma, Pedersen, Walukiewicz, Linetty, Karamoh, Sanabria, Ilic, Tameze, Gabellini, Cacciamani, Perciun, Gineitis, Coco
Coach: Vanoli
Unavailable: Zapata, Schuurs, Savva, Ilkhan, Njie, Salama, Sosa
Disqualified: None
Rome (3-5-2): Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Cristante, Paredes, Koné, Angelino; Soulé, Shomurodov
On the bench: Gollini, De Marzi, Hummels, Rensch, Abdulhamid, Salah-Eddine, Nelsson, Gourna-Douath, Baldanzi, Pisilli, El Shaarawy, Sangaré, Dovbyk
Coach: Ranieri
Unavailable: Dybala, Pellegrini
Disqualified: None
Lazio – Lecce (20.45 pm, Dazn and Sky)
Everything is still possible, but nothing is guaranteed. Lazio approaches the last game of the season with their eyes fixed on Europe, without knowing which one. The Champions League dream is still alive, but hanging by a very thin thread and a series of difficult-to-make connections. The Europa League is more concrete, but even in this case help from outside is needed. And then there is the Conference, less glittering, but still a European showcase: this is the objective that is truly within reach. Finally, the most feared scenario, that of being left out of everything. This evening, against a Lecce thirsty for salvation points, it will be ninety heart-pounding minutes, in which anything can still happen. Let's recap. The minimum objective, therefore, Conference Qualification, it depends only on Zaccagni and his teammates: one point is enough, not even that if Fiorentina were to stop in Udine. The Champions League? A complicated mission, although not entirely impossible: in addition to the victory over Lecce, a Juventus defeat in Venice and a failure of Roma to win in Turin would be needed. Finally, for the Europa League, just one of these two results would be enough. The most realistic scenario, in short, remains that of the Conference, but at Lazio no one intends to settle. There will be no calculations, also because Rome and Juventus will be engaged in away games that are anything but predictable. To make the finale even more intense, there is also the city rivalry. After having had a 15-point advantage over the Giallorossi, Lazio suffered a painful comeback, finding themselves today at minus 1. A counter-overtaking on the last day would have a double value: it would restore morale to a group that has experienced a season of ups and downs and, in addition, it would guarantee (at least) access to the Europa League, avoiding the "downgrading" to the Conference. And then closing the championship with another internal disappointment (it would be the tenth home game without a win in the last eleven) is a scenario that no one in Formello even wants to consider.
Lazio – Lecce, probable formations
Lazio (4-2-3-1): Mandas; Marusic, Gila, Romagnoli, Pellegrini; Guendouzi, Rovella; Isaksen, Dia, Zaccagni; Castellanos
On the bench: Provedel, Furlanetto, Hysaj, Provstgaard, Tavares, Gigot, Vecino, Basic, Belahyane, Noslin, Dele-Bashiru, Tchaouna, Ibrahimovic, Pedro
Coach: Baroni (suspended, Del Rosso on the bench)
Unavailable: Patric, Lazzari
Disqualified: None
Lecce (4-3-3): Falcone; Guilbert, Gaspar, Baschirotto, Gallo; Coulibaly, Kaba, Ramadani; Pierotti, Krstovic, Karlsson
On the bench: Fruchtl, Samooja, Tiago Gabriel, Veiga, Sala, Berisha, Rafia, Rebic, N'Dri, Helgason, Banda, Sansone, Burnete, Pierret
Coach: Giampaolo
Unavailable: Jean, Marchwinski
Disqualified: Dying
