Andrea Pirlo said his Juventus players showed they "can face any situation" after winning 3-1 at Sassuolo to keep their hopes of a top-four Serie A finish alive.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala both scored to take their respective Juventus goal tallies to 100 in all competitions, and Adrien Rabiot was also on the scoresheet as Pirlo's men recovered from a disastrous 3-0 defeat to Milan.

The result leaves the Bianconeri fifth in the table, one point behind Napoli in the final Champions League qualification spot with two games left to play, but their performance at Mapei Stadium gave Pirlo confidence.

"There have been so many games where we quickly let our guard down, which is not enough when wearing that jersey," Pirlo told DAZN.

"If you are focused and have the right mind, you can face any situation, like tonight.

"We are still there, we will believe in it until the end."

Juventus must prepare for the visit of newly crowned Serie A champions Inter to Allianz Stadium on Saturday, before they face Atalanta in the Coppa Italia final and then take on Bologna on the final day of the league season.

Pirlo acknowledged the pressure that has been building on his side across a season marked by inconsistency, in which their nine-year grip on the Scudetto has slipped.

"We struggled in the last few games," said Pirlo, reflecting on a run of two wins in five matches before the victory over Sassuolo.

"That's what annoys me the most, because the weight of the ball at Juve is different: when you miss, you pay.

"We now have to recover our energies for Saturday. Then we will see tactically how we handle this match."

Atletico Madrid could be within one win of clinching their second LaLiga title of Diego Simeone's tenure after they beat Real Sociedad 2-1 in a gripping tussle on Wednesday.

With Barcelona dropping points this week, but fourth-placed Sevilla winning, Atleti responded with a performance worthy of champions at Wanda Metropolitano, though it came with a nervy finish.

Yannick Carrasco and Angel Correa got the goals to put them in control, striking in the space of 12 first-half minutes.

But Atleti failed to take the chances to make the scoreline more comfortable and, after Jan Oblak and the upright came to their rescue, La Real set up a grandstand finish through Igor Zubeldia.

Atleti ultimately hung on, however, meaning they will settle a dramatic title race in their favour by defeating Osasuna next time out, should Real Madrid fail to beat Granada on Thursday.

Luis Suarez curled just wide and Marcos Llorente was denied by Alex Remiro as Atleti started as they meant to go on, with the pressure telling in the 16th minute.

Llorente was the provider with a weighted cross to the back post where Carrasco, having beat La Real's offside trap, controlled it and prodded a finish through Remiro's legs.

It was 2-0 12 minutes later when Suarez played in Correa, who coolly found the bottom-left corner.

With little to lose, La Real hit back, forcing Oblak into two brilliant saves, the second a fingertip onto the post to deny Alexander Isak.

Wasteful finishing plagued Atleti's second-half display, with Carrasco and Suarez fortunate not to be made to pay for poor misses when Portu crashed an effort against the post, with Stefan Savic making a heroic block.

Atleti were denied a fifth clean sheet in the space of six games when Zubeldia bundled in from a corner with seven minutes remaining, yet Simeone's men had the grit to hold on and put the title within reach.

Moise Kean was the shoot-out hero for Paris Saint-Germain as they edged into the Coupe de France final by beating Montpellier on penalties after a Kylian Mbappe masterclass was not enough to finish the job in normal time.

Smarting after seeing their Champions League challenge ended by Manchester City and their Ligue 1 title defence severely dented by Rennes, two wonderful Mbappe goals, which sandwiched a similarly admirable Gaetan Laborde strike for Montpellier, appeared to have secured PSG's place in a sixth Coupe de France final in seven seasons.

But Andy Delort scored a late leveller to make it 2-2 in a dramatic finale to send an absorbing contest to penalties.

Five players from each team all delivered in a high-quality shoot-out, but the pressure proved too much for Junior Sambia, who blazed over the bar to give Kean the opportunity to seal a spot in the final against Monaco or fourth-tier Rumilly Vallieres as he fired into the top-left corner.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th goal for Juventus to become the first player to reach a century of goals for the Bianconeri inside his first three seasons at the club.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner picked an opportune moment to achieve the landmark, firing the Old Lady into a 2-0 lead in their crucial Serie A clash with Sassuolo – against whom he scored his first Bianconeri goal back in September 2018 – before Paulo Dybala subsequently followed up with a milestone effort of his own.

Evergreen 36-year-old Ronaldo showed he has lost none of his potency as he controlled Adrien Rabiot's header with a fine first touch prior to beating goalkeeper Andrea Consigli with his second, demonstrating the impeccable standards which have characterised his spell in Turin.

Roberto Baggio and Omar Enrique Sivori both needed four seasons to score 100 goals for Juventus, while it took the club's all-time leading scorer Alessandro Del Piero eight seasons to hit a century.

During the period in which Ronaldo plundered his Juventus hundred, only three players in the top five European leagues have scored as many goals in all competitions for their clubs: Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich, Lionel Messi and Barcelona, and Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain.

Before his strike against Sassuolo, Ronaldo had already scored 15 more goals than any other Serie A player after 90 games in the competition, with his 77 league strikes putting him clear of Oliver Bierhoff (77) and Andriy Shevchenko (61).

His strike at Sassuolo drew Ronaldo level with Roberto Baggio and Pietro Anastasi as the joint 10th leading scorer for Juventus in the top flight.

Eager not to be outdone, Dybala then took his tally of Bianconeri strikes to 100 midway through the second half, chipping Consigli after Dejan Kulusevski's pass put him clean through.

Dybala, who has not had it his own way in Turin this season, enduring an injury hit campaign, is the only non-European player to hit 100 goals for Juve.

Fifteen of Dybala's 100 goals have come in the Champions League, and he is only two strikes away from equalling Filippo Inzaghi and Michel Platini (both 17) as the club's joint third-highest scorer in the Champions League/European Cup.

Serie A champions Inter saw off Roma 3-1 at San Siro on Wednesday to stretch their club-record winning home league run to 15 matches.

Antonio Conte's men had failed to beat Roma on home soil in the league since 2015, but they raced into a two-goal lead in this latest clash inside the opening 20 minutes.

Midfield pair Marcelo Brozovic and Matias Vecino both scored from clinical finishes before Henrikh Mkhitaryan pulled one back just after the half-hour mark.

Edin Dzeko hit the crossbar in the second half but Inter, who were crowned champions with four games remaining, rounded out the win through Romelu Lukaku late on to extend their unbeaten league run to 20 matches.

With the Scudetto already sealed, Conte continued with his rotation policy and two of Inter's recalled players linked up for the opener with 11 minutes played.

Matteo Darmian pulled the ball back from the byline and Brozovic fired a first-time finish away from Daniel Fuzato.

The Nerazzurri did not take long to double their lead through a well-taken Vecino strike following some good play from Lukaku to chase down a pass and wait for support.

Roma put five unanswered goals past bottom side Crotone on Sunday and they were back in this game thanks to Mkhitaryan's curled finish away from Ionut Radu.

The visitors almost levelled up 11 minutes into the second half when Dzeko turned in the box and arrowed a shot against the frame of the goal.

Bryan Cristante headed wide from a glorious position and Mkhitaryan volleyed another chance into the hands of Radu, but Lukaku sealed the points for Inter with a last-minute tap-in after being unselfishly teed up by substitute Achraf Hakimi on the counter.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th goal for Juventus to help Andrea Pirlo's side beat Sassuolo 3-1 and keep their hopes of a top-four Serie A finish alive.

It was a night of heroic Juventus veterans at Mapei Stadium, where Gianluigi Buffon saved a first-half Domenico Berardi penalty before Adrien Rabiot scored to give the visitors the lead.

Ronaldo clinched his century just before the interval, becoming the first Juve player to score 100 goals in his first three seasons at the club, and Paulo Dybala matched his feat by netting his 100th for the side in the 66th minute.

The result was vital after Juve's 3-0 defeat at home to Milan, with Napoli one point ahead of them in the table in the coveted fourth Champions League qualifying spot with two games left to play.

Ante Rebic scored a quickfire second-half hat-trick as ruthless Milan took another stride towards securing a Champions League spot with a 7-0 Serie A thrashing of sorry Torino.

Stefano Pioli's side eased to an 3-0 win at fellow top-four hopefuls Juventus on Sunday and they enjoyed another hugely fruitful trip to Turin three days later.

Theo Hernandez opened the scoring with a venomous drive and Franck Kessie added a second from the penalty spot in the first half at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.

Rampant Milan ran riot after the break, Brahim Diaz adding a third and Hernandez on target with another classy finish before Rebic rubbed salt into woeful Torino's wounds with a treble in the space of 12 minutes. 

A third consecutive victory moved Milan above Napoli into third place and kept them three points clear of fifth-placed Juve – who won at Sassuolo – with two games to play.

Hernandez put the Rossoneri in front with a brilliant finish 19 minutes in, taking a pass from Brahim and drilling into the far corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area with his sweet left foot.

Milan almost doubled their lead soon after going in front, Samu Castillejo hitting the post from close range following up after Salvatore Sirigu palmed away Kessie's downward header.

They did not have long to wait for the second goal, though, Kessie calmly sending Sirigu the wrong way from the spot to punish Lyanco for scything down Castillejo.

Milan were causing Torino all sorts of problems with their slick passing and movement, with Kessie turning provider early in the second half, intercepting Bremer's sloppy pass and casually slipping the ball inside for Brahim, who slotted home with his left foot.

Kessie somehow failed to convert from close range after Rebic set him up and Brahim almost had a fortuitous double when a whipped free-kick appear to strike his shoulder before hitting the crossbar.

Milan continued to cut the Torino defence apart and Hernandez dinked a delightful finish over Sirigu after racing onto a perfectly weighted pass from the excellent Rebic.

Rebic deservedly swept home a fifth with a clinical finish and struck again five minutes later with Torino all at sea, Rafael Leao racing away before showing the awareness to pick the Croatia forward out for a tap-in.

He then capitalised on more terrible defending from Torino to complete his hat-trick, finding the back of the net with his knee 11 minutes from time.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th goal for Juventus to become the first player to reach a century of goals for the Bianconeri inside his first three seasons at the club.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner picked an opportune moment to achieve the landmark, firing the Old Lady into a 2-0 lead in their crucial Serie A clash with Sassuolo – against whom he scored his first Bianconeri goal back in September 2018 – before Paulo Dybala subsequently followed up with a milestone effort of his own.

Evergreen 36-year-old Ronaldo showed he has lost none of his potency as he controlled Adrien Rabiot's header with a fine first touch prior to beating goalkeeper Andrea Consigli with his second, demonstrating the impeccable standards which have characterised his spell in Turin.

Roberto Baggio and Omar Enrique Sivori both needed four seasons to score 100 goals for Juventus, while it took the club's all-time leading scorer Alessandro Del Piero eight seasons to hit a century.

During the period in which Ronaldo plundered his Juventus hundred, only three players in the top five European leagues have scored as many goals in all competitions for their clubs: Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich, Lionel Messi and Barcelona, and Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain.

Before his strike against Sassuolo, Ronaldo had already scored 15 more goals than any other Serie A player after 90 games in the competition, with his 77 league strikes putting him clear of Oliver Bierhoff (77) and Andriy Shevchenko (61).

His strike at Sassuolo drew Ronaldo level with Roberto Baggio and Pietro Anastasi as the joint 10th leading scorer for Juventus in the top flight.

Eager not to be outdone, Dybala then took his tally of Bianconeri strikes to 100 midway through the second half, chipping Consigli after Dejan Kulusevski's pass put him clean through.

Dybala, who has not had it his own way in Turin this season, enduring an injury hit campaign, is the only non-European player to hit 100 goals for Juve.

Fifteen of Dybala's 100 goals have come in the Champions League, and he is only two strikes away from equalling Filippo Inzaghi and Michel Platini (both 17) as the club's joint third-highest scorer in the Champions League/European Cup.

Bruno Fornaroli scored a free-kick as Perth Glory earned a key 3-0 home win over Western United as they continued to emerge from their A-League slump.

After going six straight matches without a win, Perth have now won two in a row to keep their Finals hopes alive.

Fornaroli put them ahead on Wednesday with an early free-kick into the top corner before Chris Ikonomidis scored his third goal in as many league matches.

Substitute Joel Chianese wrapped up the points with a fine finish 13 minutes from time, to leave Western floundering given they lost 5-0 to Western Sydney Wanderers last time out.

Perth's win, though, may have been fortunate as they scored three times while only registering an xG of 0.5 compared to 0.8 for the visitors.

Second-placed Central Coast Mariners racked up 20 attempts on goal but were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw at Brisbane Roar, who are sixth, six points ahead of Perth in 10th.

Joey Champness hit the crossbar for Brisbane, while Central Coast thought they had won it when Oliver Bozanic chipped goalkeeper Jamie Young in stoppage time, only to be denied by the woodwork.

Alen Stajcic's side are one point clear of Sydney FC, Adelaide United and Macarthur in a tight table, though leaders Melbourne City are eight points clear of them at the summit.

Casey Stoney will step down as head coach of Manchester United Women at the end of the domestic season.

The former England international took charge in June 2018 shortly after finishing her distinguished playing career at Liverpool.

Stoney led United to the Women's Championship title, and promotion to the Women's Super League, in the team's inaugural season in 2018-19. They won 18 of their 20 matches and suffered just one defeat.

United finished a creditable fourth in their first season in the top flight in 2019-20 and again this term, 10 points behind champions Chelsea. They face Leicester City in the fifth round of the Women's FA Cup on Sunday.

"It has been an honour to lead the women's team at this great club and this has been an incredibly tough decision," Stoney said in a statement.

"I have loved leading this group and I am proud of what we have achieved together. However, after a difficult season with disruption caused by the pandemic, I now feel the time is right to take some time away and for someone else to come in and lead the team on the next stage of its journey.

"I want to thank the club, all of the fantastic staff, the fans, and most of all the players, for the incredible experience we have shared over the past three years."

United's outgoing executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: "Casey has been a driving force behind the success of our women's team since she joined the club in 2018. She has been an inspiration to her players and staff, to everyone at the club, and to the fans. Everyone at Manchester United thanks her for her unstinting hard work and dedication and pays tribute to her achievements. She will always be part of the Manchester United family."

Football director John Murtough added: "Manchester United is completely committed to its women's team and to building on the legacy of Casey's achievements as we move forwards. With the recent historic first game at Old Trafford and the impact the team has made in the Women's Super League, the future is bright.

"While we will be sad to see Casey leave, the team and the operation will continue to go from strength to strength."

Zinedine Zidane does not think 2020-21 will automatically be considered a "bad season" if Real Madrid fail to successfully defend their LaLiga title.

A 2-2 draw at home to Sevilla at the weekend left Madrid two points adrift of leaders Atletico Madrid with three games to go, the stalemate meaning title success was no longer in their hands.

They go to Granada on Thursday having beaten the Nazaries in 17 of their 18 LaLiga meetings, that sole defeat coming in 2013 as a result of the only own goal Cristiano Ronaldo has ever scored in Europe's top five leagues.

Their run of 11 successive league wins over Granada is their best current winning streak over a single opponent in LaLiga.

If Atletico beat Real Sociedad on Wednesday, a shock defeat for Madrid will effectively end their title hopes as they will be five points behind with two games to go.

Zidane is not losing faith, though he does not think it can be deemed a poor campaign even if they do not win LaLiga.

"Everything can happen," he told reporters. "We can win it just like we can lose it.

"The most important thing is to give everything and how we act on the pitch. We've played good games and the season is long.

"I am not going to say that it is a bad season, because that's when you don't give everything on the pitch.

"2017 was a phenomenal season and we could have lost in the last game. The most important thing is what you can control, and then whatever happens will happen."

The focus after that Sevilla draw was on the officiating, as Zidane publicly criticised referee Juan Martinez Munuera for giving a penalty against Eder Militao for handball.

The infringement was brought to the referee's attention by a VAR review, his decision to bring play back subsequently robbing Madrid of a penalty of their own at the other end after Karim Benzema had been brought down by Yassine Bounou.

Zidane was not prepared to get into the discussion again, accepting things could get "messy" if he did.

"I'm not going to get into the polemics. Things should be clear to everyone," he said. "The VAR will always help to improve football but specific plays must be clarified.

"In the end, everyone does their job. I'm not going to talk about these things anymore. I trust football.

"We will do our job and the referee his. I'm not going to say something because it makes a mess. We are going to control our work."

When a team wins a league title, the standard procedure is to stick the trophy in the club's museum – but Ajax have taken a slightly different approach this time around.

Ajax claimed their record-extending 35th Eredivisie trophy on May 2 with an emphatic 4-0 win over Emmen, a victory that meant bitter rivals PSV could no longer catch them.

Thousands of Ajax fans defied local coronavirus restrictions to celebrate the success, with police opting against stepping in to avoid violence.

The team and CEO Edwin van der Sar led celebrations on a balcony at the Johan Cruijff ArenA as they showed off the trophy to the baying crowd, with Ajax later insisting this was not pre-planned and was a "spontaneous gesture".

While local politicians criticised Ajax's celebrations, it showed the club's connection to the supporters and they have taken that even further.

Ajax posted a video to Twitter on Wednesday showing how the club had their copy of the trophy melted down to create tiny 'champion stars'.

"Piece of victory, piece of history, piece of Ajax. Literally. For you," the video's caption read.

Van der Sar said in a tweet of his own: "To all season ticket holders: XXXV is for you in a special way. We melted our trophy and created a piece of history!"

Ajax say the melting of the shield led to the production of 42,000 of the stars, with each season ticket holder set to receive their own share of the trophy.

Van der Sar added in a statement: "This season, we have largely had to play without our fans. Well, without them sitting in the stands, at least.

"Despite this, we have felt their support every week. On the way to the stadium, on social media and in our personal contacts.

"Previously, when we said, 'This title is for you', we were expressing how we were doing it for the fans; however, sharing the trophy is the ultimate proof that we really are. After a turbulent year, we are ensuring our fans feel part of our championship."

Fans have been unable to attend Eredivisie matches for most of 2020-21 but were allowed to return in reduced numbers last month.

Miralem Pjanic has been used sparingly at Barcelona since his off-season move from Juventus last year and may be on the move again soon.

The Bosnian was a regular for Juventus during four title-winning Serie A seasons prior to the switch.

With Barca's LaLiga title challenge faltering, the club are eager to mix things up in the next transfer window.

TOP STORY - BARCELONA PLOT SWAP DEAL WITH CHELSEA

Barcelona are looking to complete a swap deal with Chelsea whereby Pjanic and Jorginho would be exchanged, claims Sport.

Barca head coach Ronald Koeman is behind the move as he tries to land Jorginho and is willing to use the out-of-favour Pjanic to facilitate the deal.

Sport also claims that if Chelsea are not interested, the Catalans may suggest a trade with Inter involving Pjanic and an unnamed Nerazzurri player.

ROUND-UP

- Roma have joined the list of clubs keen on Brighton and Hove Albion's Ben White, according to The Sun, with Jose Mourinho's Premier League knowledge playing a part. Manchester United and Arsenal are also said to be keen on White.

- The Telegraph claims Arsenal are interested in making a move to sign Moussa Dembele, who has had underwhelming loan spell at Atletico Madrid from Lyon.

- Eric Garcia is on his way to Barcelona, according to Goal, who reports they have reached an agreement to sign him. The defender's contract is up at the end of the season.

- Chelsea's veteran forward Olivier Giroud has attracted interest from Inter and Lazio, claims Calciomercato.

- Calciomercato also reports Milan are tracking Tottenham full-back Serge Aurier.

Sporting head coach Ruben Amorim admits he felt a weight which has been lifted after helping the club to their first Portuguese Primeira Liga title in 19 years.

The Lisbon club defeated Boavista 1-0 on Tuesday to secure their 19th league title and first since 2001-02.

Sporting splashed out €10million for Amorim when he was appointed in March last year, becoming the third most expensive coach ever, behind Andre Villas-Boas and Brendan Rodgers.

"I felt a weight and now it's off," Amorim told Sport TV after Sporting's win.

"People really wanted to celebrate this championship for the value and the risk the club took, but I wanted to win for the players, for the club and for other reasons that I won't disclose."

Amorim hailed his group of players who have gone 32 league matches unbeaten.

"I have a group of fantastic players, the merit is for the players," Amorim said.

"They fought, they grew a lot, they are very humble. It was another two hours of suffering.

"It is the reflection of our season. We played better, we were much better, we did not get the second goal and we suffered until the end."

Former Portugal international Amorim, 36, added that he had no plans to leave Sporting, with whom he has a €20 million buyout clause.

"I'm not going anywhere, unless they pay for everything," the ex-Benfica midfielder said.

Retired Jamaica international, Jobi McAnuff, has officially called time on his professional career, finally pulling the curtains on a journey that has spanned some 20 seasons.

The 31-year-old midfielder, who spent the final year of his career as player-coach for EFL League Two outfit Leyton Orient, played his final game against Carlise, on May 1, which ended in a 3-2 home defeat for Orient.

McAnuff, who also played 32 games for the Jamaica national team, believes the time had simply come to hang up his boots.

“After 20 seasons and nearly 800 career games, the time has finally come to announce my retirement,” McAnuff said via social media platform Instagram.

“It’s been a tough decision, but my body and mind have finally had enough of the rigours of day-to-day football and I definitely feel now is the right time to hang the boots up,” he added.

“I’ve put in a lot of work over the last few years to make sure I was as prepared as I could be for this day and I look forward confidently and excitedly to the next phase of my professional life.”

Despite having taken over as coach for Orient’s final 16 fixtures, while also playing in midfield, McAnuff will not be continuing on as the team’s coach.  Orient finished in 11^th position.