Juventus struggled to find any continuity in their play, with Alessandro Del Piero and Pavel Nedved well contained by the Sampdoria defense.

"We created a lot, but we couldn't score," Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said. "On certain occasions we looked like losing this match and we were lucky to draw. The 1-1 is bad when you consider the Milan derby, but we have to be positive and carry on with our work because we are nearing the climax of the season."

Del Piero later hit the bar from a free kick, but Juventus failed to create any further chances before the final whistle.

Genoa let slip a three-goal lead against Fiorentina, which got a hat trick from Romania striker Adrian Mutu in the final half hour, including a 90th-minute equalizer, to earn a 3-3 draw.

A victory would have seen Genoa move ahead of Fiorentina and into the fourth Champions League qualification place, but the team lost concentration once Gabriel Milito had scored a third goal from a penalty in the 56th.

Thiago Motta and Raffaelle Palladino had put Genoa ahead 2-0 at halftime, but Mutu gave Fiorentina hope in the 60th when he scored a penalty.

The Romanian then scored his second in the 80th with a free kick, and equalized in injury time following a goalmouth scramble.

AS Roma's revival was stopped when it lost 3-0 at Atalanta.

Atalanta gave its own chance of qualifying for Europe a boost when two goals from Cristiano Doni and one from Daniele Capelli within a seven-minute span secured a 3-0 win over an uninspired Roma side.

Capelli gave the home side the lead by tapping in after a defensive mix-up in the 52nd.

"Thinking about second place you lose sight of reality and it makes you presumptuous," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. "Every now and then you get a bad result when you let in a lot of goals after a run of good results."

Despite starting with their first-choice strike pair of Francesco Totti and Mirko Vucinic, Roma was unable to find a way past a strong and determined Atalanta back four.

Also yesterday, it was: Cagliari 2, Lecce 0; Chievo Verona 1, Catania 1; Reggina 0, Palermo 0; and Siena 1, Udinese 1.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily February 16, 2009)