AC Milan Stalemate Piles on Misery for Juventus

Early strike: Juventus forward Alvaro Morata celebrates his fourth-minute opener. Isabella BONOTTO AFP
Early strike: Juventus forward Alvaro Morata celebrates his fourth-minute opener. Isabella BONOTTO AFP
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AC Milan Stalemate Piles on Misery for Juventus

Early strike: Juventus forward Alvaro Morata celebrates his fourth-minute opener. Isabella BONOTTO AFP
Early strike: Juventus forward Alvaro Morata celebrates his fourth-minute opener. Isabella BONOTTO AFP

Juventus were left struggling in the unlikely surroundings of Serie A's bottom three on Sunday after a 1-1 draw with AC Milan kept them searching for a first league win this season.

Alvaro Morata's fourth-minute goal gave Juve the lead but Ante Rebic headed in a 76th-minute equalizer as Milan ended the weekend in second place on goal difference behind city rivals Inter who crushed Bologna 6-1 on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reported.

Milan could have won the match in the dying moments but Juve keeper Wojciech Szczesny pulled off a brilliant point-blank save to deny Pierre Kalulu.

Juventus, still reeling from the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United, are 18th with just two points from four games with only Cagliari and Salernitana propping them up.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri had harsh words for some of his stars.

"You have to be determined, to bring home the tackle, keep focused. This is part of the general growth process of some players," he said.

"I will admit that I made mistakes on the substitutions, I got it wrong. I should've put more defensive players on and put the 1-0 lead under lock and key, so I take responsibility for that."

Milan, missing both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud, dropped their first league points of the season.

However, they will be relieved not to have lost back-to-back games having gone down to Liverpool in the Champions League in midweek.

Spanish international Morata temporarily allowed Juventus fans to forget about Ronaldo when he sped away from Theo Hernandez before coolly slotting the ball past Mike Maignan in goal.

Milan only threatened through three long distance attempts from Sandro Tonali in the fitst half.

But Croatian winger Rebic preserved Milan's unbeaten league start by heading in a Tonali corner with 14 minutes left.

"We came here to win the game," said Milan coach Stefano Pioli told DAZN.

"Juventus did better in the first 20 minutes, were more determined and focused, but we continued playing and did much better towards the end with chances to win, so it was overall a positive performance."

Roma dropped their first points in Serie A under Jose Mourinho as Verona came from behind to earn new coach Igor Tudor a 3-2 victory on his debut.

Lorenzo Pellegrini's clever backheel flick gave visitors Roma a half-time lead in the pouring rain as they sought a fourth successive win to start the season.

- Mourinho beaten -Antonin Barak equalized for Verona shortly after the interval and Gianluca Caprari put the hosts ahead with a precise finish five minutes later.

Ivan Ilic turned a Pellegrini cross into his own goal to bring Roma level before the hour, but Davide Faraoni's brilliant volley secured the win for Verona to halt a run of three straight losses.

"I knew their qualities, even before the change in coach," Mourinho told DAZN.

"They'd already posed big problems to their opponents. And when there's a coaching change there's often a reaction mentally, it can happen."

Roma's city rivals Lazio needed a late goal from Danilo Cataldi to salvage a 2-2 draw at home to Cagliari.

Ciro Immobile struck for the fifth time in four games as Lazio went ahead just before the break.

Joao Pedro's looping header pegged Lazio back right at the start of the second half, with Keita Balde then firing home against his former club to put Cagliari on top.

But the Sardinian club couldn't hold on for victory in Walter Mazzarri's first game in charge as Cataldi fired into the top corner seven minutes from time to rescue Lazio.

Venezia's first Serie A home match since the 2001-02 season ended in a crushing 2-1 loss to Spezia.

Simone Bastoni curled in a sensational effort as Spezia grabbed an early lead at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, an intriguing ground set on the south-eastern tip of Venice's main archipelago.

Pietro Ceccaroni headed Venezia level on the hour but Mehdi Bourabia's brilliant injury-time strike from distance claimed Thiago Motta's Spezia a first win.



Dethroned Bundesliga Champions Leverkusen Face Uncertain Future

Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso (R) and midfielder Florian Wirtz could make their last home appearances in Sunday's game with Dortmund. INA FASSBENDER / AFP
Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso (R) and midfielder Florian Wirtz could make their last home appearances in Sunday's game with Dortmund. INA FASSBENDER / AFP
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Dethroned Bundesliga Champions Leverkusen Face Uncertain Future

Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso (R) and midfielder Florian Wirtz could make their last home appearances in Sunday's game with Dortmund. INA FASSBENDER / AFP
Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso (R) and midfielder Florian Wirtz could make their last home appearances in Sunday's game with Dortmund. INA FASSBENDER / AFP

After conceding the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich last weekend, Bayer Leverkusen host Borussia Dortmund on Sunday with rumored big-name exits clouding the club's immediate future.

With two games remaining, Leverkusen are guaranteed to finish second, but the final home match of the season could be a farewell for coach Xabi Alonso and star midfielder Florian Wirtz.

Alonso, the rookie coach who banished the 'Neverkusen' nickname by taking Leverkusen to the Bundesliga title last season, could be headed for Real Madrid, where he won the Champions League as a player, AFP said.

While Alonso's departure was always on the horizon -- the Basque has often spoken of Leverkusen as the perfect place to develop -- Wirtz's exit will sting, particularly if the 22-year-old Germany regular moves to Bayern, as German media have reported this week.

Born 20 minutes away in Pulheim, Wirtz was plucked from neighboring FC Cologne's academy and made his debut aged 17, taking Kai Havertz's record as Leverkusen's youngest debutant and later briefly becoming the Bundesliga's youngest goalscorer.

After recovering from an ACL injury in 2022, Wirtz was instrumental in Leverkusen's league and cup double and was named Bundesliga player of the season.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated published Thursday, Wirtz said "it definitely appeals to me to leave my comfort zone at some point and experience something new."

The chatter around the duo's exit has obscured what has still been an excellent season at the BayArena.

After last year's record-breaking campaign, where Alonso's side became the first team in Bundesliga history to go through a season unbeaten, Leverkusen were bound to come back to earth.

Like Bayern, Leverkusen have lost only twice all campaign, but have been held to 11 draws -- four more than the title winners.

Wins in their two remaining games will bring Leverkusen to 74 points: the second-best tally in their history and enough to win the league two seasons ago.

Leverkusen's upcoming opponents Dortmund will want to make to most of the uncertainty, as they push for a Champions League spot.

As low as 12th this season, Dortmund have picked up 16 points in their last six games. They sit one point and one place behind Freiburg, who travel to plucky battlers Holstein Kiel on Saturday.

One to watch: Thomas Mueller

Bayern Munich midfielder Thomas Mueller will play his final match at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

Regardless of the result against Borussia Moenchengladbach, Mueller will bid farewell to the home fans by lifting the Bundesliga shield -- doing so for a record 13th time.

No player in Bayern's recent history has embodied the club better than the two-time Champions League winner; Bayern however declined to extend his deal.

Mueller wants to play on and it will be strange to see him wearing another club's kit, for Bayern fans and neutrals alike.

Former mentor Jupp Heynckes, who coached Bayern to the treble in 2012-13, told AFP subsidiary SID on Thursday the veteran should opt not to continue his career elsewhere.

"If I were Thomas, I'd call time on (his career)," Heynckes said, adding Mueller was "predestined" to continue at Bayern in some kind of leadership role in the future.

"Such a gem should not be ignored. Thomas is a witty man and is also very intelligent. He understands an incredible amount in football."