AC Milan secured their 18th national title on Saturday by drawing 0-0 away to Roma with two games left in the Italian Serie A season.
The draw pushed the Devils nine points clear of title holders Inter Milan, who play Sunday at home to Fiorentina. Inter would finish second even by drawing level at the top as they lost both direct clashes with the city rivals.
“All the scudetti are beautiful,” said Milan vice president Adriano Galliani. “The last is always the best. (Coach Massimiliano) Allegri was very clever in his first season (at Milan). He follows in the path of our great coaches.” Veteran midfielder Gennaro Gattuso said: “Seven years without a scudetto were a lot. The way we won it was great. They said we were dead. But passion is important and always counts.” Roma had midfielders Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta suspended, but played a good first half. They were the first to threaten when Mirko Vucinic, on 14 minutes, controlled with his chest a cross from Marco Cassetti, but had his flick bravely saved by Christian Abbiati.
The Montenegro international came close again nine minutes later, when he saw Alessandro Nesta intervene with the tip of his boot to deflect another deep feed from Cassetti.
Aleandro Rosi came on for the injured Matteo Brighi and on 37 minutes forced another save from Abbiati, who also blocked from Fabio Simplicio before the break.
The Devils were disappointing in the first half despite welcoming back from suspension Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who played upfront next to Brazilian Robinho, with the recovering Pato sitting on the bench.
Early in the second half, Robinho curled a shot against the right post and substitute midfielder Massimo Ambrosini botched a volley inside the box as Milan tried to switch gears.
Kevin-Prince Boateng, on the hour, lobbed past Alexander Doni off an Ambrosini assist, but missed by a whisker before the Roma custodian had trouble deflecting a searing, but central free kick from Ibrahimovic.
The Giallorossi from the capital moved level with Lazio into fourth place, which awards a Champions League berth through a preliminary round.
Lazio can regain fourth place on Sunday as they visit Udinese, who trail one point adrift.
Earlier on Saturday, Palermo came from behind with goals from Fabrizio Miccoli and Cesare Bovo to edge relegated Bari 2-1 and retain a safe mid-table position.
Palermo remained six points behind the Europa League zone, but could still secure a berth for the tournament if they qualify for the Italian Cup final.
The Sicily side welcome the Devils for a second-leg semi-final on Tuesday after a 2-2 away draw at the Giuseppe Meazza, where Inter welcome Roma on Wednesday with a 1-0 lead from the first leg.
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