Milan - Sampdoria and 10-man visitors Juventus played out a spectacular 3-3 draw Saturday as they opened the 38th and final round of the Italian Serie A season. Alessandro Del Piero scored a brace to go top in the league's scorers' table with 21 goals, one more than French striking mate David Trezeguet, who was also on target.
Del Piero connected with a Pavel Nedved assist to open the scoring on seven minutes and was floored in the area eight minutes later by Angelo Palombo, leaving the task to convert the resulting spot kick to Trezeguet.
Samp gradually recovered from the two-goal deficit and pulled one back on 21 minutes thanks to an Antonio Cassano spurt on the left flank topped by a great drive by the first post.
Trezeguet saw Antonio Mirante bravely slap his dangerous header above the bar before defender Christian Maggio levelled on 40 minutes stunning Emanuele Belardi from the edge of the area.
A reversal was possible for Samp on 45 minutes as Jonathan Zebina fouled striker Emiliano Bonazzoli in the area, but Cassano had his shot saved by Belardi, who filled in for international Gianluigi Buffon.
The dismissal on the hour of Juve's Mali midfielder Mohamed Sissoko seemed to mean trouble for the Turin guests, who however managed to score again on 65 minutes.
Del Piero was fouled again and this time took himself the penalty converting with a precise low drive shortly before receiving a standing ovation as he was replaced by midfielder Marco Marchionni.
The unrelenting Genoa hosts came close as Maggio squandered from close range and levelled on 80 minutes when veteran Vincenzo Montella fired home off a Cassano assist after coming on for Bonazzoli.
Juve had previously secured a third place that grants one of four berths for next season's Champions League, while Samp were already certain of a place in the next UEFA Cup.
The two sides met a day before the remaining nine Serie A games due to the visit in Genoa Sunday of Pope Benedict XVI.
Leaders Inter Milan and Roma vie for the title Sunday when Inter play at Parma holding a one-point lead over Roma, who are away at Catania.
Parma and Catania have much at stake too, as they strive to steer clear of a three-team drop zone where Parma are mired in third-from-last position two points behind Catania.
