Five Serie A matches were scheduled simultaneously to decide the title, Champions League places, and relegation. A Torino–Juventus derby was among them. Before kick-off, supporters clashed near Stadio Olimpico, and a 36-year-old Juventus fan, Marco Leonardo Basoccu, was taken to hospital for emergency surgery after a head wound. Reports differed on the cause, with rumors of tear gas and other accounts pointing to a blunt object such as a glass bottle. Juventus ultras entered the away section demanding the match be abandoned. Players, led by Manuel Locatelli, were brought over, and kick-off was suspended for an hour. Other matches proceeded on time, and Juventus ultimately failed to qualify for the Champions League due to results elsewhere, leaving the final round tarnished.
"As kick-off approached, supporters clashed close to the stadium. One, a 36-year-old Juve fan named Marco Leonardo Basoccu, was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after suffering a head wound. A rumour spread that he had been struck by a tear gas canister. Basoccu's father told the newspaper La Stampa that he, too, had heard this version of events. Others offered a different account. The news agency Ansa reported Basoccu's injury was caused by a blunt object, likely a glass bottle."
"Either way Juventus-supporting Ultras entered the away section of Torino's Stadio Olimpico demanding the game be abandoned. Players, led by the captain Manuel Locatelli, were called over to listen. Kick-off was eventually suspended for an hour. The other four games began as scheduled. To do otherwise may have risked further public disorder, but now the fairness of the competition had been compromised."
"Remember that a rescheduling of the Rome derby, one week earlier, had led to a full-blown legal appeal. In the end, that part did not matter. Results elsewhere meant Juventus, who began the day in sixth, could no longer qualify for the Champions League. Kicking off late did not confer any advantage. Still, the spectacle of the final round had been tarnished before a ball was kicked."
"This has been a dismal year for Italian football, between the national team's third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup and the underperformance of Serie A clubs in Europe. Now even the domestic campaign was ending on a grim note. Fans clash outside"
Read at www.theguardian.com
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