AC Milan won their 16th Italian league championship and fifth in eight years with a 2-1 victory at Perugia yesterday.
Lazio, 2-1 winners against Parma at home in the Olympic Stadium with Chilean Marcelo Salas scoring both goals, finished runners-up, just one point behind the new league champions. "We deserved it. I dedicate the title to my players," said Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni.
Seven consecutive match victories by Milan had denied Lazio their first title in 25 years.
"It was a great dream that failed to come true," said Lazio owner Sergio Cragnotti, whose club surrendered the league leadership only last week after three months at the top.
If Milan were nervous of losing the league title in the final 90 minutes, it never showed. Argentine Andres Gulielminpietro put the visitors ahead in the 11th minute with a volley from the edge of the area that curled beyond the despairing grasp of Andrea Mazzantini.
In the 31st, German Oliver Bierhoff's 18th goal of the season, a header off Zvonimir Boban's corner, appeared to put the title beyond Lazio's grasp.
But Marcelo Salas's 27th-minute opener for Lazio at the Olympic stadium and Japanese Hidetoshi Nakata's 34th-minute penalty for Perugia, after a foul on Milan Rapaic, revived the hopes of 75,000 Lazio supporters.
The start of the second half in Perugia was delayed by fans throwing banners and flares on to the pitch, tearing the goal netting.
Straight after the break, Ivan Kaviedes narrowly failed to score for the home team but Milan rarely looked in trouble.
Their fans began to celebrate as news filtered through to the terraces that Paolo Vanoli had levelled the scores for Parma in Rome.
Not even Salas's 76th-minute winner for Lazio caused Milan to falter, although goalkeeper Christian Abbiati had to pull off a tremendous 81st-minute save to make sure of the title.
"I started to believe in the title when we won at Juventus (2-0 on May 10th)," said Zaccheroni, in his first season at Milan.
"We won but it was not enough. But it was a good year," said Lazio coach Sven-Goren Eriksson, whose side are left with the consolation prize of last week's European Cup Winners' Cup win.
Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina, who drew 1-1 at Cagliari, and Parma will represent Italy in the Champions' League next season.
Roma qualified for a UEFA Cup place with a 4-1 victory at 10man Vicenza but Juventus, 3-2 winners over Venezia, will need to win a two-leg play-off against Udinese, 3-1 victors at Empoli, to make sure of a place in Europe.
Italy's third and final UEFA Cup berth will be decided in another play-off between Bologna and Inter Milan.
