Juventus see off Verona to stay in Serie A top four
Published: 05:03 PM,Mar 04,2025 | EDITED : 09:03 PM,Mar 04,2025
Khephren Thuram celebrates scoring their first goal. REUTERS
TURIN, Italy: Juventus moved back into Serie A's Champions League places on Monday by beating Verona 2-0 on Monday to dampen rumbling fan discontent.
Khephren Thuram's fine first-time finish in the 72nd minute and a late strike from Teun Koopmeiners saw off struggling Verona.
Juventus climbed two points above Lazio who briefly moved into the top four by winning at AC Milan on Sunday night, and next week host third-placed Atalanta with only three points separating the two teams.
France midfielder Thuram opened the scoring just as fans at the Allianz Stadium in Turin were turning on the Juve players, loudly booed off at half-time by supporters already outraged at the midweek exit from the Italian Cup at the hands of lowly Empoli.
'We played well and we deserved to win... it was an important three points,' said under-fire Juve coach Thiago Motta.
'I'm pleased with the players I have, with the effort and commitment they show... We know that the attitude was wrong last time (against Empoli).'
The match was played in a flat atmosphere as fans protested their team's underwhelming season after bringing in Motta to replace Massimiliano Allegri and spending significant sums to renew the squad and mount both a challenge for the Scudetto and a deep run in the Champions League.
Instead, Juve were dumped out of Europe's top club competition in the play-offs by PSV Eindhoven and trail league-leaders Inter by six points.
Demanding supporters staged a protest outside the team hotel on Sunday night and launched foul-mouthed chants at Motta ahead of Monday's win, Juve's fifth in a row in Serie A.
On Monday, Juve would have been behind to a rocket of a shot from Toma Suslov at the break had Davide Faraoni not strayed offside in the build-up.
That ruling set the stage for Juve to win a match which they dominated from the first whistle and could have won more comprehensively had it not been for Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo.
Koopmeiners, who has underperformed since arriving from Atalanta as a potential star of a reworked team, netted just his third goal of the season give the match a more respectable scoreline. — AFP
Italian Serie A results
On Monday:
Juventus 2 (Thuram 72, Koopmeiners 90) Verona 0
Played Sunday
Bologna 2 (Orsolini 48-pen, 56) Cagliari 1 (Piccoli 22)
Genoa 1 (Vasquez 81) Empoli 1 (Grassi 36)
AC Milan 1 (Chukwueze 85) Lazio 2 (Zaccagni 28, Pedro 90+8-pen)
Monza 0 Torino 2 (Elmas 41, Casadei 66)
Roma 2 (Saelemaekers 61, Dovbyk 76) Como 1 (Da Cunha 44)
Saturday
Atalanta 0 Venezia 0
Napoli 1 (Billing 87) Inter Milan 1 (Dimarco 22)
Udinese 1 (Thauvin 38-pen) Parma 0
Friday
Fiorentina 1 (Gosens 9) Lecce 0
Italian Serie A table after Monday's match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Inter Milan 27 17 7 3 60 25 58
Napoli 27 17 6 4 43 22 57
Atalanta 27 16 7 4 59 26 55
Juventus 27 13 13 1 45 21 52
Lazio 27 15 5 7 49 35 50
Bologna 27 12 11 4 42 33 47
Fiorentina 27 13 6 8 42 28 45
Roma 27 12 7 8 42 30 43
AC Milan 27 11 8 8 39 30 41
Udinese 27 11 6 10 34 37 39
Torino 27 8 10 9 31 32 34
Genoa 27 7 10 10 25 35 31
Como 27 7 7 13 33 43 28
Verona 27 8 2 17 27 56 26
Cagliari 27 6 7 14 27 42 25
Lecce 27 6 7 14 18 43 25
Parma 27 5 8 14 32 46 23
Empoli 27 4 10 13 23 44 22
Venezia 27 3 9 15 22 41 18
Monza 27 2 8 17 21 45 14
Note: Top four qualify for the 2025/26 Uefa Champions League; fifth goes into Europa League; sixth goes into Conference League; bottom three relegated to Serie B
Khephren Thuram's fine first-time finish in the 72nd minute and a late strike from Teun Koopmeiners saw off struggling Verona.
Juventus climbed two points above Lazio who briefly moved into the top four by winning at AC Milan on Sunday night, and next week host third-placed Atalanta with only three points separating the two teams.
France midfielder Thuram opened the scoring just as fans at the Allianz Stadium in Turin were turning on the Juve players, loudly booed off at half-time by supporters already outraged at the midweek exit from the Italian Cup at the hands of lowly Empoli.
'We played well and we deserved to win... it was an important three points,' said under-fire Juve coach Thiago Motta.
'I'm pleased with the players I have, with the effort and commitment they show... We know that the attitude was wrong last time (against Empoli).'
The match was played in a flat atmosphere as fans protested their team's underwhelming season after bringing in Motta to replace Massimiliano Allegri and spending significant sums to renew the squad and mount both a challenge for the Scudetto and a deep run in the Champions League.
Instead, Juve were dumped out of Europe's top club competition in the play-offs by PSV Eindhoven and trail league-leaders Inter by six points.
Demanding supporters staged a protest outside the team hotel on Sunday night and launched foul-mouthed chants at Motta ahead of Monday's win, Juve's fifth in a row in Serie A.
On Monday, Juve would have been behind to a rocket of a shot from Toma Suslov at the break had Davide Faraoni not strayed offside in the build-up.
That ruling set the stage for Juve to win a match which they dominated from the first whistle and could have won more comprehensively had it not been for Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo.
Koopmeiners, who has underperformed since arriving from Atalanta as a potential star of a reworked team, netted just his third goal of the season give the match a more respectable scoreline. — AFP
Italian Serie A results
On Monday:
Juventus 2 (Thuram 72, Koopmeiners 90) Verona 0
Played Sunday
Bologna 2 (Orsolini 48-pen, 56) Cagliari 1 (Piccoli 22)
Genoa 1 (Vasquez 81) Empoli 1 (Grassi 36)
AC Milan 1 (Chukwueze 85) Lazio 2 (Zaccagni 28, Pedro 90+8-pen)
Monza 0 Torino 2 (Elmas 41, Casadei 66)
Roma 2 (Saelemaekers 61, Dovbyk 76) Como 1 (Da Cunha 44)
Saturday
Atalanta 0 Venezia 0
Napoli 1 (Billing 87) Inter Milan 1 (Dimarco 22)
Udinese 1 (Thauvin 38-pen) Parma 0
Friday
Fiorentina 1 (Gosens 9) Lecce 0
Italian Serie A table after Monday's match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Inter Milan 27 17 7 3 60 25 58
Napoli 27 17 6 4 43 22 57
Atalanta 27 16 7 4 59 26 55
Juventus 27 13 13 1 45 21 52
Lazio 27 15 5 7 49 35 50
Bologna 27 12 11 4 42 33 47
Fiorentina 27 13 6 8 42 28 45
Roma 27 12 7 8 42 30 43
AC Milan 27 11 8 8 39 30 41
Udinese 27 11 6 10 34 37 39
Torino 27 8 10 9 31 32 34
Genoa 27 7 10 10 25 35 31
Como 27 7 7 13 33 43 28
Verona 27 8 2 17 27 56 26
Cagliari 27 6 7 14 27 42 25
Lecce 27 6 7 14 18 43 25
Parma 27 5 8 14 32 46 23
Empoli 27 4 10 13 23 44 22
Venezia 27 3 9 15 22 41 18
Monza 27 2 8 17 21 45 14
Note: Top four qualify for the 2025/26 Uefa Champions League; fifth goes into Europa League; sixth goes into Conference League; bottom three relegated to Serie B