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Published: May 23, 2021 10:32 pm
Last Updated: May 23, 2021 10:37 pm
A chaotic evening of football across the continent came to a close a short time ago, with Juventus and Lille having proven the big winners.
CR7 makes history
First up was the final round of action in Serie A.
With the title race having long been decided, focus instead switched firmly to the race for top-4 in the Italian top-flight.
Ahead of the action getting underway, two Champions League spots were still up for grabs, with AC Milan, Napoli and Juventus having sat 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively.
Milan, table-toppers throughout much of the campaign, did their part, securing a hugely impressive 2-0 win at Atalanta to leapfrog La Dea into 2nd.
Franck Kessie proved the star of the show for the Rossoneri, slotting home confidently from the spot late in both halves in Bergamo:
Kessie from the spot again!
Milan secure Champions League qualification and second place in Serie A to go with it! ⚫
Juventus grab the final Champions League place as Napoli slip up against Verona ⚫⚪ pic.twitter.com/onHMHiiv9N
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) May 23, 2021
Juventus, meanwhile, also got the job done in altogether comprehensive fashion, downing Bologna by four goals to one.
With Cristiano Ronaldo watching on from the bench, the Bianconeri saw all of Federico Chiesa, Alvaro Morata (2) and Adrien Rabiot find the net, to make it four straight wins to round out the campaign:
Route one from Juventus and it leads to Morata’s second and a 4-0 lead! ⚫⚪
The Bianconeri have delivered the kind of performance they needed tonight pic.twitter.com/jLGn2dOILB
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) May 23, 2021
All eyes, in turn, switched to Naples.
Gennaro Gattuso’s Partenopei were widely expected to make short work of a struggling Verona side, an outcome which, despite their own victory tonight, would have condemned Juventus to the Europa League.
Incredibly, however, upon the final whistle sounding at the Stadio San Paolo, the hosts could only muster a 1-1 stalemate, after Davide Faraoni cancelled out Amir Rrahmani’s opener twenty minutes from time:
!!!️⚽️
Faraoni equalises on the break for Verona, dropping Napoli down to 5th as things stand
You can watch live Serie A action on the LiveScore app
(Available in and only) #SerieA #NapoliVerona #LiveScore pic.twitter.com/ieZXtDUhGt
— LiveScore (@livescore) May 23, 2021
In turn, Napoli slipped down to 5th, with Juventus, despite having looked all but out of the top-4 race just weeks ago, having somehow managed to sneak back into the Champions League at the death.
And, on an all-round wonderful night for the Old Lady, the club’s star man also made history.
As outlined above, Cristiano Ronaldo was left on the bench versus Bologna, amid suggestions that the Portuguese was struggling with fatigue.
Nevertheless, though, Ronaldo went on to waltz to his latest top-scorer prize, having found the net on a hefty 29 occasions in Serie A this term.
And Capocannoniere crown means that CR7 is now the only player in history to have finished a season as the top goalscorer in all of the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A:
Only one player in history has finished as top scorer in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
Cristiano Ronaldo pic.twitter.com/RDEoael3iA
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 23, 2021
Lille crowned
Italy, however, was not the only country in which final day chaos was forthcoming on Sunday.
Elsewhere, in France, the title race was yet to be decided, ahead of the round of Gameweek 38 fixtures.
This came with Lille having defied the odds throughout the campaign, to hold star-studded Paris Saint-Germain at bay, in 2nd.
And, when all was said and done, Les Dogues’ fairytale concluded with the happiest of endings.
LILLE, FRANCE – MARCH 03: Flag of LOSC in the stands during the Ligue 1 match between Lille OSC and Olympique Marseille at Stade Pierre Mauroy on March 3, 2021 in Lille, France. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)
Christophe Galtier’s men made the trip to Angers this evening, whilst Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG were tasked with a final day meeting with minnows Brest.
The latter, despite Neymar’s embarrassing first-half penalty miss, eventually emerged victorious, after Kylian Mbappe added to Romain Faivre’s own goal twenty minutes from time:
Kylian Mbappé one on one, there’s only one way that story ends
Great composure, will it be enough for PSG? pic.twitter.com/Dz24cUHbEU
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 23, 2021
Lille, however, were not to be denied.
The table-toppers opened the scoring at the Stade Raymond Kopa inside ten minutes, courtesy of Canadian hitman Jonathan David.
Strike partner Burak Yilmaz then added a Dogues 2nd from the penalty spot on the stroke of the interval, to send the Lille faithful across France into delirious celebrations:
Lille have one hand on the Ligue 1 trophy! ⏳
Burak Yılmaz with ice-cold composure to make it 2-0 before the break… pic.twitter.com/M3u9pwIuxi
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 23, 2021
Angers, for their part, did manage to pull one back deep into injury-time, but it proved too little, too late, as Galtier and co. were rewarded for a frankly remarkable season with the Ligue 1 title:
⭐⭐⭐⭐#Champions4You @NewBalanceFR @NBFootball pic.twitter.com/LPpQCMCqDr
— LOSC (@losclive) May 23, 2021