Champions Juventus prepare for Del Piero farewell
Champions Juventus prepare for Del Piero farewell
The Old Lady's last match against Atalanta will also bring an end to a 19-year career of the legendary Del Piero.

Milan: Juventus are gearing up for a party on Sunday as they prepare to celebrate the club's first Serie A title in nine years and say goodbye to Alessandro Del Piero.

Unbeaten Juventus claimed their 28th league title last weekend after beating Cagliari 2-0 and AC Milan losing 4-2 to Inter Milan in the next-to-last round of the season. Juventus are four points clear of Milan and can't be caught.

Coach Antonio Conte's champions face Atalanta in front of another sellout crowd at Juventus Stadium before going on an open-top bus parade through the streets of Turin, which are bound to be teeming with celebrating fans like last Sunday night.

"Even in this period of economic crisis, football has to make people dream and to work with people's dreams is something that is very beautiful," Juventus president Andrea Agnelli said. "I was at home Sunday night and I saw how many people went the squares to celebrate our victory. We are delighted, after a year of work, to have given them a smile.

"Juventus exist to win and we work seven days out of seven for that. With one game to go, we have the best defence, we are unbeaten and, above all, champions of Italy. We have surpassed expectations because we chose the right people who helped us achieve a dream. Our future can only be a winning one,” he said.

The game will also be Del Piero's last in front of home fans. He has spent almost his entire career at Juventus, having joined from Padova in 1993, and he stuck by the club when it was relegated. But the all-time great striker is leaving at the end of campaign.

Del Piero can complete a dream farewell by helping Juventus win the double in the Italian Cup final against Napoli on May 20.

Milan face Novara in what is now a meaningless game for both sides, as Novara are already relegated.

Third spot and the final Champions League place is still very much up for grabs. Udinese are in pole position to join Europe's elite for the second year running, as they are two points above Lazio. Udinese travel to Catania and need only a draw as they have a better head-to-head record than Lazio.

"Obviously the whole group knows how important the Catania game is, and it is right that the tension is growing slowly and in the right doses," Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin said. "We have to stay very calm because nothing is done and everything is still to be won. We just have to think about preparing for the game well and being ready in our heads, legs and heart."

Lazio welcome Inter Milan, who have a slim chance of sneaking third spot as they are three points behind Udinese.

Napoli are in level with Inter in the standings and are the other team with an outside chance of reaching the Champions League when they host Siena.

At the other end of the table, Lecce still have a chance of avoiding the drop. They travel to Chievo Verona needing a victory to survive on goal difference, as they have a level head-to-head record with Genoa. Both games between the sides finished in a draw.

Genoa host Palermo, have won only one of their past 13 games. However, Genoa have an even worse record with just one victory in their past 16.

Elsewhere, it's: Cesena vs. Roma, Fiorentina vs. Cagliari and Parma vs. Bologna.

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