Juventus’s slumping team fights back to draw against Cagliari

Juventus overcame a two-goal deficit at halftime to salvage a 2-2 draw away at Cagliari on Friday, moving one step closer to Serie A safety.

Gianluca Gaetano and Yerry Mina’s penalties put Juventus down at halftime, but Dusan Vlahovic’s excellent free kick in the 62nd minute and Alberto Dossena’s tragic own goal three minutes from time helped Juventus recover a draw.

The draw is just one more of Massimiliano Allegri’s team’s recent poor performances, as their season is winding down to a dull conclusion after briefly seeming like it might be a league championship fight.

However, after two victories in 12 games, third-place Juventus is now 19 points behind league leaders Inter Milan, who can win the Scudetto on Monday night if they defeat AC Milan, their local rivals.

“We gave away every ball we could, but the boys played better in the second half,” Allegri said.

“We need to take stock of the situation at the conclusion of the season before moving forward. Securing Champions League football is now the most vital thing.

With Serie A’s fifth position in the Champions League confirmed for the next season, Juventus’ participation in the competition is all but certain.

With five games left in the season, Juventus leads sixth-place Lazio by 12 points. Lazio is three points out of the Champions League spots after losing to Genoa 1-0, which was secured by wanted player Luis Alberto.

Dossena’s own net deflection of Kenan Yildiz’s cross keeps Cagliari five points above the relegation zone in 14th place.

Cagliari, who were in second place in the middle of February, have emerged from danger thanks to one loss in their previous nine games and a string of really good performances.

“We’ll remain in Serie A if we remain united.” Coach Claudio Ranieri said, “I hope the fans are proud of us because the boys gave it their all. The fans deserve it.”

Just a few days after declaring that he intended to cancel his contract and that he didn’t “want another euro” from Lazio, Luis Alberto scored the game-winning goal in the 57th minute.

Last summer, the 31-year-old and Lazio agreed to a contract extension that would take him until 2027.

Lazio was pushed by Luis Alberto to within sight of their local rivals Roma, who are now in fifth and final place in the Champions League and visit Bologna on Monday night.

In addition, Roma will play the last eighteen minutes of their postponed encounter against Udinese on April 25. Play was delayed due to Evan Ndicka’s on-pitch collapse, and the score was tied at one.