Inter Milan defeated visiting Parma 2-0 to win the Italian league soccer championship. With three rounds left, Inter, who only needed a draw to win the trophy, went an unassailable 12 points ahead of 2025 champion Napoli. It`s Inter`s 21st Serie A championship, only behind Juventus, who have won 36.
Meanwhile, the defending champions Napoli will end the season without a trophy.
Just before halftime, Marcus Thuram scored with an angled strike that was just out of Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki`s reach. Then, in the 80th minute, 37-year-old Henrikh Mkhitaryan added another after receiving a ball from Serie A scoring leader Lautaro Martinez, who had just returned from a hiatus due to injury.
After helping Parma avoid relegation, Cristian Chivu, Inter`s first-year coach, won the trophy against the team he had managed the previous season. Thuram, the famous striker for Inter, was born in Parma, where his father, Lilian Thuram, was a player.
Chivu was a member of the Inter club that won a treble under Jose Mourinho in 2010 and was brought in to take Simone Inzaghi`s place over a year ago. In the running for two trophies this season, Inter will face Lazio in the Italian Cup final in 10 days.
Inter`s elimination from the Champions League playoffs this season by a small Norwegian team Bodo Glimt, stands in stark contrast to the domestic triumph. Paris Saint-Germain defeated Inter 5-0 in the Champions League final the previous season.
Still, it`s an improvement from last season`s Serie A when Inter finished one point behind Napoli.
Inter celebrate title while Milan and Juventus risk missing out on UCL
While Inter are celebrating winning the league, AC Milan and Juventus are in danger of losing their Champions League spots. Milan suffered its fourth defeat in seven games at Sassuolo, when they were reduced to ten men and defeated 2-0. Juventus then drew 1-1 with Hellas Verona, who had been relegated.
Only two points separated third-place Milan from fourth-place Juventus, which is only three points clear of fifth-place Como, which is vying for a Champions League spot in the top four.
(With AP Input)
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