Juventus win Serie A title for fifth straight season

Radja Nainggolan scored in the 89th minute to give Roma the only goal they would need to beat Napoli 1-0 on Monday. Napoli's defeat, coupled with Juventus' 2-1 win at Fiorentina on Sunday, means that the Old Lady now have an unassailable lead over their closest rivals, with three games to go in the Serie A season.

This is Juve's 32nd league title, not including two which were taken away from the club in the wake of the 2006 match-fixing scandal known as "Calciopoli."

The match, played at a half-empty Olympic Stadium, was an anti-climatic end to a season which had at one stage promised to be one of the most exciting Serie A title races in years, with Roma, Napoli, Inter Milan and Fiorentina all going top of the table at one point or another.

However, when their rivals eventually began to slip up, Juventus, featuring German national team midfielder Sami Khedira, went on a run in which they took 73 of a possible 75 points.

Champions League qualification

While the title race has been decided, third-place Roma are still hoping to catch Napoli in second spot - to earn direct qualification for next season's Champions League.

"Napoli are strong I said earlier that to get past them we had to win today," Nainggolan said after Monday's contest. "We are still behind and now we have to win all the remaining games, hoping that they drop some points."

Serie A does not normally schedule games on Monday afternoons, but this one took place on Liberation Day, which is a national holiday in Italy.

pfd/rd (Reuters, dpa, AP)