Juventus beat Palermo to clinch Serie A crown

Juventus have been crowned champions of Italy for a second consecutive season after their 1-0 win against US Città di Palermo took them beyond the reach of closest pursuers SSC Napoli, who beat FC Internazionale Milano 3-1.

Needing just a point from their last four games, Antonio Conte's side were not in the mood to wait and boosted their tally by three thanks to Arturo Vidal's 59th-minute penalty, Massimo Donati having upended Mirko Vučinić. The only blotch on an otherwise memorable day for the Bianconeri came when Paul Pogba was sent off seven minutes from time.

"It's a huge weight off our shoulders – a responsibility we've had from the start of the season," commented goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who joined the club in 2001. "When you're favourites and expected to win, it's only yours to lose. We did well.

"I've really enjoyed this particular Scudetto triumph; we've shown our group spirit right from the first match," he added. "We never put a foot wrong when it counted and, in recent matches, we took the decisive steps by winning difficult games that were anything but guaranteed victories."

Juve's win lifted them 14 points clear of Napoli, until Walter Mazzarri's men responded by beating Inter in the evening kick-off. Edinson Cavani struck a hat-trick – his second goal a penalty – to put paid to the eight-placed Nerazzurri.

As for AC Milan, they tightened their grip on third place by overcoming Torino FC 1-0 courtesy of Mario Balotelli's 84th-minute winner, while Miroslav Klose plundered five goals in the space of 40 minutes as S.S. Lazio routed Bologna FC 6-0. Elsewhere, Udinese Calcio consigned UC Sampdoria to a 3-1 reverse and Parma FC eased past Atalanta BC 2-0.

At the bottom end of the table, Pescara Calcio were relegated following a 4-1 loss against Genoa CFC, who strode three points clear of the drop zone. AC Siena remain firmly in the relegation mire, meanwhile, after succumbing 3-0 at Calcio Catania.