Rome: AC Milan ended five years of dominance by city rival Inter Milan after clinching the Serie A title on Saturday with a heated 0-0 draw at Roma.
Milan leads Inter by nine points and is 10 in front of Napoli. While Inter could still mathematically finish even on points, Milan holds the tiebreaker courtesy of its two derby wins.
The closest either side came to scoring was a shot by Milan striker Robinho that bounced off the post one minute into the second half.
Inter won the last five Italian league titles, while Milan's last championship came in 2004.
Milan and Inter are tied with 18 titles each, while Juventus leads the all-time list with 27 championships.
After the final whistle, Milan began a champagne celebration on the pitch and threw first-year manager Massimiliano Allegri up into the air.
"They said we were dead, they said I was finished. Winning after seven years is a huge emotion," said veteran midfielder Gennaro Gattuso. "Allegri deserves a 10 — he was the artifice behind this success, he was able to keep the group together."
The 80,000-seat Stadio Olimpico was full and contained 10,000 Milan fans. Milan fans celebrated by lighting smoke in the colors of Italy's flag, and club vice president Adriano Galliani joined the players on the pitch.
Milan president and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi wasn't in attendance, but his daughter Barbara, who was recently added to the club's board of directors and is in a relationship with striker Alexandre Pato, also came down to congratulate the players, and kissed the Brazilian.
"This is a great moment, coming after seven years," said Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf. "This group will grow a lot after this victory. Now we want to bring the Italian Cup home, too."
Milan won't get to celebrate before its home fans until hosting Cagliari next Saturday. The club will remain in Rome to train ahead of the second leg in the Italian Cup semifinals at Palermo on Tuesday.
While it didn't score any goals Saturday, Milan's improved attack was one of the key reasons behind its success. The club purchased Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in August, then picked up Antonio Cassano from Sampdoria in January.
"I want to thank the players first, then (Berlusconi) for giving me such a great squad," Allegri said. "Winning in my first season is very satisfying. For the future, we've got to improve a team that is already strong. (Berlusconi) said he will provide us with a gift, so we're happy.
"Tomorrow I'll be better able to realize what we've accomplished. I'm very fortunate. We changed a lot of players and we changed formations as we went along. The players put themselves at the service of the club and that and their respect are the main reasons why we won."
Roma, which is still battling for a Champions League spot, drew level on points with Lazio for fourth place. Lazio is due to visit Udinese — which is one point behind the two Roman clubs — on Sunday.
Inter hosts Fiorentina on Sunday, while Napoli is at Lecce.
Earlier, Palermo beat already relegated Bari 2-1. Also, Siena and Atalanta each clinched promotion back into Serie A; the two clubs are tied for the Serie B lead with a 10-point lead over Novara with three matches remaining.
Siena drew 2-2 with Torino and Atalanta beat Portogruaro 4-1.
A third team will also eventually be promoted from Serie B.
In Rome, there were some clashes between opposing supporters early in the first half.
Milan midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng wasted a chance created by Clarence Seedorf 10 minutes in, and Roma controlled the match for most of the rest of the first half.
A long-range shot from Roma midfielder Rodrigo Taddei missed wide seconds after Boateng's effort, and Mirko Vucinic then had a close-range effort blocked by Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
While Roma was dominating the match, its inability to score seemed to make the team grow more nervous.
Roma captain Francesco Totti nearly lost his cool after Mark van Bommel stepped on his heel, then got away with an elbow to Van Bommel's chest 10 minutes later.
Milan took the initiative immediately at the start of the second half, with Robinho's shot hitting the post.
Boateng had another excellent chance for Milan in the 59th but his soft shot went just wide, and Roma goalkeeper Alexander Doni did well to block a free kick from Ibrahimovic three minutes later.
Roma's last chance to prevent a Milan celebration came with a free kick from David Pizarro that bounced in front of Abbiati, the Milan goalkeeper doing well to control the ball.
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