Serie A Season Finale Highlights: Juventus Secure Champions League Berth; Ranieri Bows Out With Europa Spot For Roma

Greetings and a warm welcome to everyone joining us. We will bring to you the build-up as well as live updates from all the season-ending matchday 38 fixtures of the Italian top-flight, so watch this space.

All six games will kick off simultaneously at 12:15am IST. The Serie A matchday 38 clashes will be live streamed on the GXR app and website in India. They will not be telecast on any TV channel in the country.

Here is how Juventus and Venezia line up ahead of kick-off in their matchday 38 encounter:

And here are Roma and Torino's line-ups ahead of kick-off in Turin:

Well, well, well. It's quite a start to the three-way battle between Juventus, Roma and Lazio, as Venezia open the scoring against The Old Lady in the second minute via Daniel Fila. if the scores remains this way, Roma qualify for the Champions League ahead of Juventus and Lazio. Still early days though.

Roma surge ahead in the Champions League race! Paredes converts a penalty in the 18th minute to put Claudio Ranieri's side 1-0 up against Torino. This further strengthens the Giallorossi's stake to the final UCL spot, as Juventus trail 0-1 against Venezia currently.

Juventus fight back! The Old Lady draw level against Venezia in the 25th minute via Kenan Yildiz, who pounces on a defensive error from the hosts. It's 1-1, while Roma are still ahead of Juventus provisionally on account of their one-goal lead over Torino.

And they have another! Juventus come roaring back on top, and this time it's Randal Kolo Muani with the goal in the 31st. The Venezia defence is again found wanting, and Kolo Muani takes full toll to bring the Old lady back in front in the Champions League race. Remember that a win for Juventus seals their spot, regardless of what happens in the Roma and Lazio games.

So Juventus go into the mid-game interval with a definite advantage in the Champions League qualification race. They lead Venezia 2-1, which puts them at 70 points, one more than Roma who lead 1-0 against Torino. The third side in the fray, Lazio (65), has fallen further behind after conceding to Lecce in the 43rd minute.

Play resumes in all six games of the Serie A matchday 38. Apart from the three matches in focus from the Champions League perspective, here's a look at the scores elsewhere:

Atalanta lead Parma 2-1 with an incredible two-minute brace (32nd and 33rd) from Daniel Maldini, while Parma have struck back early in the second half via Antoine Hainaut. A 10-man Udinese are locked 1-1 with Fiorentina, while Empoli are also locked 1-1 with Verona.

Alexis Saelemaekers doubles Roma's advantage against Torino. He heads in Soule's cross powerfully to beat the visiting side 'keeper and stretch Roma's lead to 2-0.

More drama in this fascinating battle. Venezia have drawn level against Juventus via Ridgeciano Haps, which means Roma again go in front with a projected 69 points, as against Juventus' projected 68. Let's see if there are more twists in this tale.

Here's the next twist! Manuel Locatelli calmly slots in a 73rd-minute penalty to put Juventus in the lead, yet again against Venezia and hence effectively against Roma too. Fifteen minutes of regulation time to go in what has been an absolutely fascinating duel between Roma and Juventus, even as they play two separate opponents.

Juventus hold on for a 3-2 win at Venezia! They thus seal their spot for next season's Champions League, while Roma have to make do with a Europa League berth. This was Claudio Ranieri's last game in charge of Roma, and he bows out with a 2-0 win over Torino. Lazio, meanwhile, go down 0-1 to 10-man Lecce.

Verona edge hosts Empoli 2-1 at the Carlo Castellani Stadium, while Parma stun Atalanta with a stoppage-time goal from Jacob Ondrejka that hands the visitors a thrilling 3-2 win in their season-ending game. And over at Stadio Friuli, Fiorentina eke out a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Udinese that seals a Conference League spot for the former. Fiorentina, in fact, upstage Lazio to claim the sixth spot in the standings.

With that, the Serie A 2024-25 season officially draws to a close. Napoli had already been declared winners earlier, and today's games have ascertained the top six for next season's European qualification.

Up next is the Champions League final on June 1 between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, which will be followed by the FIFA Club World Club from 15 June to 13 July. The next Italian league season starts on August 23.