Finding a date for a Serie A title playoff could be near impossible

ROME (AP) — Italian league officials might be second-guessing their decision to install a one-match playoff to determine the Serie A champion.

Inter Milan and Napoli are level with five rounds remaining and a rule put in place from 2022-23 requires a playoff when the top two teams finish with the same number of points.

But if Inter reaches the Champions League final and it comes down to a playoff, it’s not going to be easy to find a date.

Serie A ends on May 25 and the Champions League final is on May 31. Inter faces Barcelona in the semifinals.

A FIFA international match window is scheduled for June 2-10, with clubs required to release players for national team duty on June 1. Then the Club World Cup in the United States starts on June 15 with Inter one of the two Italian teams entered (along with Juventus). Inter opens its Club World Cup campaign against Monterrey on June 18.

There hasn’t been a playoff to determine the Serie A champion since 1964 when Bologna beat Inter 2-0 for the last of its seven league titles.

The rules call for no extra time in a championship playoff, with a penalty shootout in the case of a draw after 90 minutes.

The team with the better head-to-head record would host the playoff, but since Inter and Napoli drew 1-1 twice this season, it would go down to goal differential (Inter leads +40 to +27) or goals scored (Inter leads 72-52).

However, if the league determines that there are security issues it could decide to play the match at a neutral venue, likely the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Still, a playoff may be unnecessary.

Antonio Conte's Napoli appears to have an easier remaining schedule on paper, with games against Torino, Lecce, Genoa, Parma and Cagliari.

Simone Inzaghi's Inter plays Roma, Hellas Verona, Torino, Lazio and Como. And the Nerazzurri also have a two-leg semifinal with Barcelona in the Champions League.

However, Inter’s treble bid is done following a loss to AC Milan in the Italian Cup semifinals on Wednesday.

Napoli lost dribbling wizard Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain in January and now David Neres, who replaced “Kvara” on the left wing, is also out. That could mean more responsibility for Giacomo Raspadori, who was decisive when he came off the bench in a win at Monza last weekend.

Inter has lost consecutive matches from Serie A (1-0 to Bologna) last weekend to the Italian Cup (3-0 to Milan) but hopes to have back Marcus Thuram, Piotr Zielinski and Denzel Dumfries from injury for matches against Roma on Sunday and at Barcelona three days later.

Thuram's absence in attack — due to a left thigh issue — weighed heavily when Inter went scoreless in its last two matches.

Key players Alessandro Bastoni and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are suspended due to accumulated cards for the game against a Roma side looking to move into the Champions League places.

While Atalanta has tightened its grip on third place with 64 points, there are a handful of teams fighting for fourth place and the final Champions League place: Bologna (60) is fourth, followed by Juventus (59), Lazio (59), Roma (57) and Fiorentina (56).

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Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez walks off as AC Milan players celebrate during the Italian Cup semifinal second leg soccer match between Inter Milan and AC Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Romelu Lukaku gestures, during the Serie A soccer match between Monza and Napoli at U-Power Stadium in Monza, Italy, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Inter Milan's Marcus Thuram reacts after a missed scoring opportunity during the Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Napoli's Scott McTominay scores during the Serie A soccer match between Monza and Napoli at U-Power Stadium in Monza, Italy, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez reacts during the Italian Cup semifinal second leg soccer match between Inter Milan and AC Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Friday celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, as President Vladimir Putin presided over a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops through Red Square and welcomed over two dozen world leaders — the most since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.

Victory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the country’s most important secular holiday. The parade and other festivities underline Moscow’s efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that is grinding through a fourth year.

Friday’s parade was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sat next to Putin, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Their attendance underscored how Putin has tried to emphasize the failure of the West to turn Russia into a global pariah.

“It’s again showing that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is seen as a very legitimate victorious nation that is among victors in World War II,” said Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

"Russia is standing tall among the so-called global majority,” Gabuev said, adding that the attendance of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico showed that “Russia has allies even within the Western camp” and marked a major public relations victory for Putin.

World War II is a rare event in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.

Addressing the crowd in Red Square, Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that “we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory.”

Putin, who has ruled Russia for 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his action in Ukraine.

For Putin, Victory Day celebrations have become "a civic religion that boosts patriotism, nationalism, nostalgia, and justifies both his repressive regime at home and Russia’s increasingly expansionist foreign policy abroad, particularly including towards its neighbors,” Gabuev said.

The parade featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia's nuclear might, huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles launchers rolled across Red Square. Also among the weaponry on display were drones carried on military trucks, a tribute to their pivotal role in the conflict.

Fighter jets of Russian air force's aerobatic teams flew by in close formation, followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colors of the national flag.

Afterward, Putin shook hands with Russian generals who led the troops onto Red Square and spoke to medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.

Last month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed its deployment for the first time.

The Russian and North Korean statements emphasized their expanding military partnership, especially after Russia said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region, parts of which Ukrainian forces seized last year. Ukraine denied the Russian claim.

After the parade, Putin hosted foreign leaders at a Kremlin reception. He also held a number of bilateral meetings with some of them, including Brazil's Lula, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has openly challenged the European Union’s policies over Ukraine.

Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged “warm words” and “congratulations on the occasion of our common holiday” through their aides, the Russian leader's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told state Channel One TV.

Victory Day festivities this year were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital’s airports. Aeroflot on Wednesday canceled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed over 140 others as the military repelled Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.

Russian authorities tightened security ahead of the parade and cellphone internet outages were reported amid electronic countermeasures aimed at foiling more potential drone attacks.

Military parades and other festivities were also held in scores of other cities across Russia amid tight security. As a historic tribute, Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg symbolically regained its Soviet-era name of Leningrad for a day Friday and Volgograd temporarily reverted to Stalingrad, as it was known during World War II. In the evening, massive fireworks lit the sky in multiple cities across Russia's 11 time zones.

Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7 to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations, but warned that Russian troops would retaliate to any attacks. Moscow has been reluctant to accept a U.S.-proposed 30-day truce that Ukraine has accepted, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies to Ukraine and Kyiv’s mobilization effort, conditions Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected.

Ukrainian authorities reported scores of Russian strikes Friday that killed at least two people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and damaged buildings. A Russian drone also struck a civilian vehicle in Zaporizhzhia, critically injuring a man and also wounding his wife.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday said Kyiv's forces continued operations against Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, as well as conducting shelling and drone strikes on the battlefield. It also accused Ukraine of attempted cross-border attacks into Russia's Belgorod and Kursk regions.

As the parade and other festivities unfolded in Moscow, dozens of European officials met in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to endorse the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials accused of war crimes.

“Russia needs to feel our common and, most importantly, growing strength,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, addressing the Lviv meeting. He emphasized the need for Russia to be held accountable, adding that “this is the moral duty of Europe and of everyone in the world who values human life.”

“I’m sure that this tribunal will allow for the fight against impunity against all war crimes that have been committed during this war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

Russian authorities have fiercely denied allegations of war crimes. Asked about the tribunal on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow "will not be reacting to this.”

Barrot also said European allies have agreed on another package of sanctions against Russia.

Standing alongside top Ukrainian government officials in Lviv, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the tribunal's launch will mean that “nobody can be left unpunished for the crimes committed."

Most of Europe marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II on May 8.

BRM-1K reconnaissance vehicles roll along Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II.Maxim Bogodvid/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

People carry portraits of relatives who fought in World War II, during the Immortal Regiment march at the Nevsky prospect, the central avenue of St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Chinese President Xi Jinpin, left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, centre, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon, right, and President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso, centre right, attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden after the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is driven along Red Square in an Aurus car during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Wilf/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

From second right: Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinpin watch the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Sergei Bobylev/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Russian servicemen take part in the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Maxim Bogovid/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow arrives in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, for celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Mikhail Voskresensky/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, left, arrives to attend a working lunch with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the The Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin's Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 8, 2025, ahead of celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, ahead of the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

President of Russia Vladimir Putin, right, and President of China Xi Jinping talk during a dinner on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation for heads of foreign delegations in the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Thursday, May 8, 2025, ahead of celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Sergey Bobylev/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Military troops stand in formation in Red Square before the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexey Maishev/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)