Del Piero double puts Juventus on brink of promotion

MILAN, May 12 (Reuters) Alessandro Del Piero scored twice in a 3-1 home win over Bologna on Saturday to leave Juventus on the brink of a return to Serie A.

Bologna forward Claudio Bellucci sprung the offside trap to give his side the lead but Del Piero rifled in from an acute angle to equalise on 37 minutes.

Del Piero then scored his 18th goal of the campaign with a twice-taken penalty five minutes from time before David Trezeguet wrapped up the points.

Juve will be promoted if Genoa lose at home to Triestina on Sunday and Napoli fail to win at Brescia on Tuesday in a game put back from this weekend because of security concerns.

Juventus, relegated to Serie B last season for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal, have 79 points with four games play while Genoa have 70 and Napoli 68 in the race for the two automatic promotion slots.

A small group of fans blocked the Juventus team bus as it arrived in Turin for the game and protested against club directors for what they see as a lack of ambition.

However, the supporters applauded manager Didier Deschamps and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who have both been linked with moves away from the club.

REUTERS SSC PM2149