Two Vincenzo Iaquinta goals and a penalty by Alessandro del Piero gave Juventus a 3-0 win over Bari yesterday that keeps alive their Champions League hopes. The victory lifted Juventus to four points behind Palermo, who occupied fourth spot before Sampdoria's late game at Roma last night. "I hope we continue to play as we did today," Alberto Zaccheroni, the Juventus coach told reporters. "I thought Bari didn't give us a thing and played excellently."
Livorno were relegated to Serie B, despite producing one of their best displays of the season in a 3-1 home win over Catania, summing up their bizarre campaign as teams around them also won. "This game was completely different to many others because everything went right for us," Cristiano Lucarelli, the Livorno striker, told Sky TV. The Tuscan club returned to the top-flight at the first attempt via the Serie B play-offs last June but it was not long before problems arose.
The Italian league ruled that Gennaro Ruotolo, their coach, did not have the necessary badges to manage in Serie A, so Livorno were forced to appoint Vittorio Russo as a figurehead manager even if Ruotolo continued to run team affairs. The pair were sacked in October and Serse Cosmi, the replacement, complete with stylish flat cap, oversaw a slight pick-up in form before resigning in January and then quickly changing his mind. As relegation began to look inevitable, Cosmi heavily criticised his players and was removed at the start of the month with Ruotolo taking over again.
The majority of fans refused to turn up for Sunday's game, disillusioned by a dreadful season which also brought the departures of top players Alessandro Diamanti and Antonio Candreva. Siena are also all but down with three games left after a 4-1 defeat at Udinese. * Agencies
