Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v AC Milan - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - April 27, 2024 AC Milan's Ruben Loftus-Cheek in action with Juventus' Bremer REUTERS/Daniele Mascolo
TURIN, Italy (Reuters) -Juventus and AC Milan played out a 0-0 draw at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Serie A on Saturday, with both sides still seeking to secure Champions League spots for next season.
Milan are second in the standings on 70 points while Juventus remain third on 65 with four games left to play, after Inter Milan sealed the title on Monday.
Bologna and AS Roma complete the top five on 62 and 58 points respectively, both with a game in hand before they play their games on Sunday.
Italy earned the fifth spot for the expanded 2024-25 Champions League last week via UEFA's coefficient table when Atalanta, AS Roma and Fiorentina advanced to the semi-finals in their respective European competitions.
"We are going through a delicate moment," Milan coach Stefano Pioli told DAZN. "Reacting like this is important even if it's clear that we can do better.
"I may have made mistakes, the season could have been better but if we have taken a lot of points behind Inter, the others are worse off than us. They have done something exceptional.
"We have changed a lot but this group has the potential to be protagonists."
Milan, who were without suspended defenders Davide Calabria, Theo Hernandez and Fikayo Tomori, also needed a last-minute change in goal when Mike Maignan suffered a muscle strain in the warm-up and Marco Sportiello started in his place.
Both sides started off cautiously but Juventus, who on Tuesday progressed to the Coppa Italia final with a 3-2 aggregate win over Lazio, were close to opening the scoring just before the break through a Dusan Vlahovic free kick.
Midfielder Filip Kostic had a great chance following halftime when he fired from the edge of the box but Sportiello kept out his shot before denying Danilo, who attempted a point-blank rebound.
Substitute Arkadiusz Milik then could have converted a stunning lofted cross from Federico Chiesa in the 73rd minute but Sportiello showed off his skills again to save the Poland striker's header aiming at the bottom right corner.
"It's a shame not to have won," Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri told a press conference.
"The team had more confidence, especially in the second half. We conceded little or nothing to Milan. It's a shame we didn't win but we add an extra point in the standings. We played a good game."
Milan, who on Monday had to endure watching rivals Inter celebrate their 20th Serie A title after a 2-1 win in the Milan derby, finished the game without a shot on target.
They next host 12th-placed Genoa on May 5 before Juventus travel to Roma later that day.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; editing by Clare Fallon)
