Juventus secures Champions League berth with wild win at relegated Venezia

ROME (AP) — Igor Tudor was hired in March to make sure that Juventus qualified for the Champions League.

He fulfilled the goal — albeit barely — when the Bianconeri won 3-2 at Venezia in the final round of Serie A on Sunday to finish fourth.

“There were a lot of emotions, incredible adrenaline,” Tudor said.

Juventus finished one point ahead of Roma, which won 2-0 at Torino to secure a Europa League spot.

Venezia, which was relegated along with Empoli, surprised Juventus with an early goal from Daniel Fila in the second minute.

Kenan Yildiz and Randal Kolo Muani struck back to put Juventus in control after 31 minutes.

Ridgeciano Haps equalized after the break for Venezia before Manuel Locatelli restored Juve’s lead with a penalty.

“We definitely made some mistakes during the season. But the Champions League was one of our goals and were able to make it,” Locatelli said.

Tudor replaced the fired Thiago Motta and was given a contract through the end of the season. There was speculation that his contract included an automatic renewal in case of Champions League qualification but Juventus now appears interested in rehiring Antonio Conte, who just led Napoli to the title.

“You need to accept this coaching life, where you’re always in limbo,” Tudor said.

Juventus will now prepare for the upcoming Club World Cup in the United States.

“The choice needs to be made before the Club World Cup,” Tudor said.

Leandro Paredes converted a first-half penalty and Alexis Saelemaekers headed in after the break for Roma in the final match of Claudio Ranieri’s coaching career.

Roma was 12th when Ranieri was hired in November and the Giallorossi lost just once during the second half of the season.

“I told the lads that we should fight until the last second,” Ranieri said. “We’re not going to be in the Champions League and I’m very sorry about that for the fans. But we gave everything.”

Ranieri was involved in the choice of Roma’s new coach, who has not been revealed yet, and will move into an advisory role.

“When the president wants to announce it, it’s only right that he says it,” Ranieri said, referring to Roma’s American owner, Dan Friedkin.

Fiorentina leapfrogged Lazio into sixth to take the Conference League spot with a 3-2 win at 10-man Udinese.

Moise Kean scored the decisive goal for Fiorentina with a deflected shot.

Lazio lost 1-0 at home to 10-man Lecce, which got a first-half goal from Lassana Coulibaly, and was left out of Europe.

Daniel Maldini scored two goals in a minute for Atalanta in a 3-2 loss to Parma.

First, Maldini slid in to redirect a cross then he scored with a long-range effort.

Substitute Jacob Ondrejka scored two late goals for Parma to make sure his team avoided relegation.

Empoli lost 2-1 to Hellas Verona.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Juventus' Manuel Locatelli celebrates a goal during the Serie A Enilive soccer match between Venezia and Juventus at the Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium, Italy, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP)

Juventus' Manuel Locatelli celebrates a goal with fans during the Serie A Enilive soccer match between Venezia and Juventus at the Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium, Italy, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP)

Parma's Antoine Hainaut celebrates after scoring a goal for his team during the Serie A soccer match between Atalanta and Parma at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Italy, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Tano Pecoraro/LaPresse via AP)

Juventus' Randal Kolo Muani celebrates after scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Serie A soccer match between Venezia and Juventus at the Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium, in Venice, Italy, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP)

Juventus' Randal Kolo Muani, left, celebrates with team-mates after scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Serie A soccer match between Venezia and Juventus at the Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium, in Venice, Italy, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)