Chiellini Says Goodbye to Juve Fans as Last-gasp Lazio Make Europa League

Giorgio Chiellini said goodbye to fans in his last home game for Juventus MARCO BERTORELLO AFP
Giorgio Chiellini said goodbye to fans in his last home game for Juventus MARCO BERTORELLO AFP
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Chiellini Says Goodbye to Juve Fans as Last-gasp Lazio Make Europa League

Giorgio Chiellini said goodbye to fans in his last home game for Juventus MARCO BERTORELLO AFP
Giorgio Chiellini said goodbye to fans in his last home game for Juventus MARCO BERTORELLO AFP

Giorgio Chiellini bid farewell to Juventus fans on Monday in his last home match for the Turin giants, a disappointing 2-2 draw which earned Lazio a place in the Europa League after Sergej Milinkovic-Savic levelled with the last kick of the game.

Fans chanted "there's only one captain" as a giant choreography depicting his shirt number '3' was displayed in the stands ahead of the match and they then gave Chiellini a huge round of applause after he was substituted in the 18th minute, AFP said.

The 37-year-old had played the full 120 minutes of Juve's Italian Cup final defeat to arch rivals Inter Milan on Wednesday, after which he announced that he would be leaving Juve after 18 years at a club where he has won nine league titles and a clutch of other trophies.

"It's been an emotional day," said Chiellini to DAZN, adding that he believes he can "still play at a high level of football".

Following the announcement of his departure from Juve he said he would think about whether to hang up his boots after having already decided to retire from international football.

"I don't know right now," he said.

"I need to think about things. It's a decision that can't be made in a day."

- Tearful Dybala -
When he left the field he handed his captain's armband to another player on the way out -- Paulo Dybala.

Argentina international Dybala, who has been at Juve since 2015, will leave at the end of the season after the club decided not to renew his contract after a verbal agreement with the 28-year-old struck in the autumn was publicly rejected by the club earlier this year.

Dusan Vlahovic did the Argentine's "mask" celebration when he headed in the opener in the 10th minute, and when Dybala was substituted with 12 minutes remaining, with the hosts leading 2-1, he did a tour of the stands and was embraced by fans while he tried to hold back the tears.

Juve looked to be cruising to a routine home win to honor their two departing heroes when Alvaro Morata doubled the hosts lead in the 36th minute.

However Alex Sandro poked into his own net five minutes after the break and Maurizio Sarri's Lazio pushed for a leveler which came in the 95th minute, Milinkovic-Savic rifling past Mattia Perin from a tight angle to give Lazio a spot in Europe's second-tier competition.

"For next year we will need a few players in order to aim towards the Champions league," said Milinkovic-Savic, who has been linked with a move away from the Roman club in the summer.

They sit fifth in one of two Europa League places, four points away from seventh-placed Fiorentina, who were hammered 4-1 at a Sampdoria side in party mood.

Samp were guaranteed their top flight status on Sunday after Cagliari were beaten 3-1 by title-chasing Inter Milan, leaving Marco Giampaolo's side four points above the drop zone before they kicked off in their penultimate fixture of the season.



Osaka Earns First Grass Win of the Season with Victory over Qualifier Danilovic

Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
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Osaka Earns First Grass Win of the Season with Victory over Qualifier Danilovic

Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Russia's Ludmilla Samsonova during the Berlin WTA tennis tournament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka fired 16 aces past Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic to earn a 7-6(6) 7-6(4) victory at the Bad Homburg Open on Monday for her first win on grass this season less than a week before the start of Wimbledon.

The 27-year-old Japanese player, who had lost in the first round at her last two tournaments -- the French Open and the Berlin Open -- had won her first title in May in almost two years following a maternity break.

Osaka, who had reached the third round of the Australian Open in January before retiring injured, has not had back-to-back wins on any surface since the Italian Open in May. She is currently ranked 56th in the world.

"It's my first grasscourt win of the year," Reuters quoted Osaka as saying. "I am excited about that. I am super excited to play here and be back for my next round."

Asked whether she was on track to improve her form on the surface, she said: "I hope so. I think I have potential but everyone is really good so I cannot take it for granted."

The pair held serve to take the first set into a tiebreak where Osaka snatched it on her second set point.

Osaka was 40-0 up on her opponent's serve at 2-2 in the second set but she could not bag the first break of either player in the match, with Danilovic holding serve with her eighth ace of the match.

Osaka, however, got the mini-break she needed in the tiebreak when she challenged a Danilovic first serve that was then ruled out, with the qualifier then double-faulting.

She held on to that slim advantage to earn a spot in the round of 16 where she will face fifth-seed Emma Navarro.

Russian eighth-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova also eased into the next round with a 6-1 6-2 win over Swiss Belinda Bencic.

Croatia's Donna Vekic made equally light work of sixth seed southpaw Diana Shnaider for a 6-3 6-3 victory.

Clara Tauson of Denmark needed to work harder and battle from a set down before snatching a 6-7(6) 6-3 6-3 against Poland's Magdalena Frech.