Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned from injury to score twice as Inter Milan retained its Italian Serie A title yesterday with a 2-0 win at Parma, which was relegated.

Inter's triumph on the final day of the season led to its 16th Italian championship and third in a row.

AS Roma finished three points behind Inter on 82 points after drawing 1-1 at Catania, which stays up with Empoli going down despite a 2-1 win over already-relegated Livorno.

Roma needed to win and hope for help from Parma. It looked good for the Giallorossi when Mirko Vucinic scored in the eighth minute, but Roma let up after news of Ibrahimovic's goals reached Catania and Jorge Andres Martinez equalized for the Sicilians in the 85th.

Having returned from a year in Serie B due to the Italian match-fixing scandal, Juventus ended the season in third place.

Fiorentina ended fourth, bagging the final Champions League qualifying place ahead of AC Milan after Pablo Osvaldo's overhead kick sealed a 1-0 win at Torino.

Fifth-placed Milan beat Udinese 4-1 but will not play in Europe's premier club competition next season for the first time since the 2001/02 campaign.

Elsewhere yesterday, it was: Atalanta 2, Genoa 0; Cagliari 2, Reggina 2; Lazio 2, Napoli 1; and Siena 2, Palermo 2.

Ahead of yesterday's matches, Inter fans clashed briefly with police outside the stadium for the match against Parma which they were barred from.

The clashes involved fans without tickets who were attempting to climb over fences to enter the stadium, the Apcom and ANSA news agencies reported.

One Parma fan was slightly injured, ANSA reported.

On Saturday, Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero took over the Serie A scoring lead with two goals in a 3-3 draw with Sampdoria.

Del Piero ends the season with 21 goals. Teammate David Trezeguet also scored once to finish with 20. Genoa's Marco Borriello was third with 19.

Del Piero is trying to secure a spot on Italy's European Championship roster.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 19, 2008)