MILAN (Italy): Juventus fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at Udinese on Thursday to miss the chance to seal the Serie A title for the ninth time in a row.
Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt had put the defending champions ahead three minutes before the break in Udine.
But a diving Ilija Nestorovski header seven minutes after the break got Udinese level with Seko Fofana scoring the winner in injury time.
Juventus remain six points ahead of second-placed Atalanta with three games left to play, and have another chance to seal the title for the 36th time at home against 14th-placed Sampdoria on Sunday.
Maurizio Sarri’s side need just three more points and the coronation could come on Saturday, depending on the results of their rivals Atalanta, Inter Milan and Lazio.
But Juventus’s performance against the minnows from the north-east was worrying ahead of their crunch Champions League last 16 game against Lyon on August 7.
“We paid for a lack of order after a good first half,” said Sarri.
“We wanted to win at all costs, we were messy and we took the game on a dangerous track and lost it on 93 minutes because we wanted the three points.”
Udinese earned a precious three points to move up to 15th position.
Lazio, 11 points behind Juventus in fourth, play at Cagliari later on Thursday.
