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.



Man City Collect Biggest UEFA Bonus for Releasing Players for International Duty 

Mateo Kovacic of Manchester City celebrates scoring the 0-2 goal during the English Premier League match between Everton and Manchester City in Liverpool, Great Britain, 19 April 2025. (EPA)
Mateo Kovacic of Manchester City celebrates scoring the 0-2 goal during the English Premier League match between Everton and Manchester City in Liverpool, Great Britain, 19 April 2025. (EPA)
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Man City Collect Biggest UEFA Bonus for Releasing Players for International Duty 

Mateo Kovacic of Manchester City celebrates scoring the 0-2 goal during the English Premier League match between Everton and Manchester City in Liverpool, Great Britain, 19 April 2025. (EPA)
Mateo Kovacic of Manchester City celebrates scoring the 0-2 goal during the English Premier League match between Everton and Manchester City in Liverpool, Great Britain, 19 April 2025. (EPA)

Premier League side Manchester City were allocated around 5.17 million euros ($5.94 million), the most of any UEFA club, as part of the European football governing body's Club Benefits Program to encourage national team participation by players.

A record 233 million euros were distributed to 901 clubs from all 55 member associations for releasing players to national team competitions: the 2020-21 and 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, European Championship qualifiers 2022–24 and Euro 2024.

Spanish side Real Madrid were allocated 4.79 million euros while Inter Milan of Serie A were given 4.65 million euros.

Clubs received an equal share for each player released for each UEFA Nations League and Euros qualifying match, as well as a fixed amount per player per day during the final tournament.

Clubs throughout the football pyramid benefited with a tenth-tier side – Yorkshire Amateur of England – receiving 7,300 euros.

"It is fantastic to see clubs of all sizes and levels, across the entire football pyramid, receiving financial rewards for their vital role in developing players who contribute to the success of our national team competitions - including the highly successful UEFA EURO 2024 final tournament," UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said.

"Every success of our competitions is a shared one, and this benefits program is another testament to that principle ... when football thrives, everyone benefits."

The total amount for the release of players in this cycle was 100m euros, up from 70m for the previous cycle.

The amount for the release of players for the European Championship also increased, from 130m to 140m euros, with funds going to 196 clubs from 29 UEFA member associations.