Stalemate between Juventus and Napoli in Serie A Title Showdown

Two of Serie A's title contenders, Juventus and Napoli, played to a goalless draw on Saturday in a match that failed to live up to the hype. The highly anticipated clash at the Allianz Stadium in Turin saw both teams struggle to break the deadlock, with Juventus maintaining their unbeaten start under the management of Thiago Motta. Despite their solid defensive record, Juventus have been unable to find the winning formula in their last three league matches, leaving them behind local rivals Torino at the top of the table. Antonio Conte's return to Juventus was a subdued affair as both teams cancelled each other out in a fiercely contested but ultimately uneventful encounter.

Torino are a point ahead of Udinese, who are at Roma on Sunday afternoon, and third-placed Napoli, while Juve are a further point back in fourth.

Napoli coach Conte, a winner of eight Serie A titles and the 1996 Champions League in 16 years with Juve as player and coach, was reserved a low key welcome by his former supporters.

Conte had been back to Turin as Inter Milan coach but during the Covid-19 pandemic when fans were not present in the stadium.

And his team did a fine job of shutting the match down while also creating the two best chances of an underwhelming match either side of half-time, with Michele Di Gregorio pulling off a fine save from Matteo Politano who also slammed over shortly after the break.

Before kick-off fans remembered Toto Schillaci, the former Juve striker who became a national hero by scoring six times for Italy at the 1990 World Cup.

Schillaci died on Wednesday at the age of 59 after suffering from bowel cancer.

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That moment of remembrance was unfortunately ruined by some Napoli supporters in the away end, who were loudly whistled by home supporters after yelling out insults.

There was little goalmouth action once the match got underway, with the first real chance not coming until stoppage time when Di Gregorio did brilliantly to tip away Politano's free-kick as it whizzed past Romelu Lukaku's head.

Politano was in the thick it again nine minutes after the break when he cut inside and fizzed a curling shot just over the bar.

That was the last major incident of a match as both teams seem happy to settle with a draw rather than risk defeat to a direct rival so early in the season.

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Earlier Venezia won their first match since being promoted, claiming a 2-0 home win over Genoa.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)