Coach Massimiliano Allegri watched Juventus celebrate winning a fifth consecutive title in Turin as former club AC Milan slipped into the Serie A doldrums and further out of contention for a place in Europe. Brazilian midfielder Hernanes hit his maiden goal for Juve to give the hosts a half-time lead but it took until Simone Zaza’s 80th minute strike, after he had replaced Alvaro Morata, for the title celebrations to really begin.  
Juventus, now 15 points ahead of second-placed Napoli before they host Atalanta today, had secured a record-equalling fifth consecutive Serie A crown last Monday when Roma defeated Napoli 1-0 in the capital.
After a week of celebrations, it was far from sterling stuff from the Turin giants but Allegri said: “It wasn’t a great game but the tension had dropped off a little following our title celebrations last week. “But now it’s important for us to keep our focus with a view on the Italian Cup final against Milan.”
Allegri now has three Serie A titles on his coaching CV having steered AC Milan to the ‘scudetto’ in 2011, only to be sacked by the seven-time European champions following a 4-3 defeat to Sassuolo in January 2014.
In hindsight, it was probably the best thing to have happened to the 48-year-old coach, who led the Old Lady to a first Champions League final in 12 years in 2015 and stands on the verge of a second consecutive league and Cup double.
Milan host Juve in the Cup final on May 28, and going on yesterday’s respective performances the Turin giants will be odds-on to defend their trophy.
Crisis-hit Milan hit a new low by dropping to seventh after fighting back from 3-1 down to secure a 3-3 San Siro draw with Frosinone.
Milan, who sacked coach Sinisa Mihajlovic three weeks ago and replaced the popular Serbian with youth team coach Cristian Brocchi, are now even further out of contention for a place in next season’s Europa League—a short order for a team that once rubbed shoulders with the giants of European football.
After a dismal draw with relegation-haunted Carpi and a shock defeat to basement side Verona, Milan were looking to make amends.
But frustrated Milan fans largely stayed at home amid reports club owner Silvio Berlusconi is on the verge of selling a majority stake to a Chinese consotrium, and their decision was largely vindicated.
Luca Paganini beat ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from the edge of the box after two minutes and although Mario Balotelli and Brazilian defender Alex, whose header was fingertipped on to the post, came close to reducing arrears the visitors doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Oliver Kragl’s free kick beat Donnarumma at the near post.
Hopes of a quick turnaround were dented just after the restart when Balotelli’s penalty was parried by Francesco Bardi, a former teammate when the pair played in Inter Milan’s youth team. Bardi then did well to palm Alex’s piledriver from distance, but could not stop Milan reducing arrears on 50 minutes when Bacca slid in to meet Ignazio Abate’s assist.  
But Milan’s morale was hit again, Federico Dionisi pouncing on Alex’s error to fire an angled drive across Donnarumma and into the far bottom corner.
Luca Antonelli came off the bench and, with his first touch, controlled with his chest to send an overhead kick past Bardi on 74 minutes.
But at the end of a desperate finale, the referee came to Milan’s rescue when he pointed to the spot after Vasyl Pryima handled in the box.
Bardi came close but failed to stop Jeremy Menez’s drive from sneaking inside the base of the near post to secure a share of the spoils.
Elsewhere, goals by Franco Vazquez and an own goal from Nenad Krsticic gave Palermo a precious 2-0 win over Sampdoria as they bid to beat the drop. In last night’s late match, Lazio host Inter Milan.
Results
Juventus 2 (Hernanes 44, Zaza 80) Carpi 0
Empoli 0 Bologna 0
AC Milan 3 (Bacca 50, Antonelli 74, Menez 92-pen) Frosinone 3 (Paganini 2, Kragi 44, Dionisi 55)
Palermo 2 (Vazquez 19, Krsticic 85-og) Sampdoria 0
Sassuolo 1 (Pellegrini 58) Verona 0