The final day of the Serie A season revolved largely around Milan as the Rossoneri secured Champions League football in Carlo Ancelotti’s last game in charge.
Aside from those two storylines, the sub-plot of Paolo Maldini ran concurrently as the 40-year-old brought down the curtain on an illustrious career with his 902nd and final appearance for the Italian giants, while the future of David Beckham remains unresolved.
With a 2-0 victory at Fiorentina – who were chasing the same Champions League spot – Milan sent off their veteran defender and manager in style with second-half goals from Kaka and Alexandre Pato.
La Viola managed to hold on for fourth spot and a Champions League qualification spot by virtue of their superior head-to-head record over Genoa, who were breathing down their necks and hammered rock-bottom Lecce 4-1, with the Inter-bound Diego Milito bagging a brace. Both Genoa and Fiorentina finished the season on 68 points, with the latter gaining that valuable European qualification berth.
Elsewhere, Juventus edged Milan out for second spot with a 2-0 win over Lazio as Vincenzo Iaquinta netted twice. That result handed Ciro Ferrara a final boost as he attempts to persuade the board of the club to hand him the reins on a permanent basis.
At the other end of the table Torino’s relegation to Serie B was sealed with a 3-2 defeat at Roma, while Bologna’s 3-1 win over Catania ensured their safety in spite of Torino’s result.
Already-crowned champions Inter ran out 4-3 winners in an enthralling encounter with mid-table Atalanta at the Giuseppe Meazza, where Esteban Cambiasso and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both scored inside the final ten minutes to turn a deficit into victory as Luis Figo played his last game for the Nerazzurri.
Udinese rounded off with a resounding 6-2 win over Cagliari as mid-tablers Palermo and Sampdoria drew 2-2, and Napoli jumped to 12th with a 3-0 win over Chievo.
Reggina’s last game in this season’s top flight ended in a 1-1 draw with Siena as they bade farewell to Serie A.