Veteran Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci scored a double for his team, which beat Venezia 2-1 on Sunday in the thirty-fifth stage of the Italian Championship, and is on the verge of officially qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Juventus raised its score to 69 points, 11 points ahead of Roma VI, which will meet later with Bologna. In the event that the capital’s team does not win, Juventus will guarantee official qualification, knowing that Lazio, who is fifth, who lost at home to Spezia 3-4 on Saturday, is behind by 10 points before the end of the league in three stages and cannot catch up with it mathematically.
Bonucci gave the best gift to himself on his thirty-fifth birthday when he opened the scoring with a header after 7 minutes, but Venezia equalized with a long-range shot from Mattia Aramo (71). Bonucci said the last word again, scoring the winning goal in the 75th minute.
Juventus have lost only once in the last nine matches, and that happened against Inter, 0-1, in early April.
The fierce competition for the top spot continues, as Milan, the first-placed team, meets Fiorentina by two points later on Sunday, while its runner-up and neighbor Inter will visit Udinese today as well.
