An investigation has been launched after Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie was allegedly subjected to racist chants during Tuesday’s Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg victory over Lazio.

McKennie played his part in Juve’s 2-0 win after he set up Dusan Vlahovic for the club’s second goal of the last-four clash.

The United States international was substituted in the 89th minute and footage on social media appeared to show McKennie being targeted with racist chants by a section of fans at Allianz Stadium.

Juventus has now confirmed they are looking into the incident of alleged racism, which they state came from visiting supporters inside the stadium.

“Juventus Football Club takes note of the video circulated on social networks and reported by some media from which it would emerge the intonation of discriminatory chants coming from the visiting sector and directed at Weston McKennie during his substitution in the Juventus-Lazio semi-final first leg of the Italian Cup, played on 2 April,” a club statement read.

“Following confirmation of the incident by the player, the club communicates that it has activated all procedures aimed at verifying what happened and will fully cooperate in order to identify the persons responsible and, consequently, take all necessary measures in this regard.”

Juventus kept alive their hopes of silverware this season with a 2-0 first-leg win in their Coppa Italia semi-final against Lazio.

Front two Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic scored in the early part of the second half to break open a previously underwhelming encounter at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.

The two sides also met in Serie A on Saturday, Lazio winning that game 1-0 with a stoppage-time goal from Adam Marusic, but Massimiliano Allegri’s side successfully turned the tables as he chases a record fifth Coppa Italia as coach to break a tie with Roberto Mancini and Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Lazio lost Mattia Zaccagni to injury just 10 minutes in after he was caught by Federico Gatti – and were grateful things did not get worse even before substitute Gustav Isaksen was able to enter the pitch.

Matias Vecino was harshly penalised after catching Andrea Cambiaso in his own area, the Juventus player leaping across him as he cleared the ball, but VAR overruled the penalty decision due to Cambiaso being offside when Vlahovic headed towards goal.

Isaksen saw one long-range effort blocked and another deflected behind by Danilo for a corner and Felipe Anderson ripped a 25-yard drive well over.

Cambiaso failed to control a deft return ball from Chiesa, costing Juve one of their few clear sights of goal in the first half, and they will be without defender Gatti for April 23’s return leg due to suspension after he was booked for a foul on Isaksen.

Luis Alberto headed Patric’s cross against the bar, with keeper Mattia Perin a touch uncertain under the looping ball, and Adrien Rabiot’s powerful 20-yard volley was straight at Christos Mandas in the Lazio goal as the half ended scoreless.

Nicolo Casale replaced Patric at half-time but the visitors soon fell behind when Manuel Locatelli did well to keep the ball alive and Cambiaso’s brilliant long pass cut the Lazio midfield and defence out of the game for Chiesa to finish clinically.

Locatelli blasted just wide after a rapid break, though a free-kick was given against Chiesa in any case, but Vlahovic soon made it 2-0 after turning Casale inside out.

Gatti headed just wide from Filip Kostic’s corner, conceded by Casale’s excellent tackle as Chiesa appealed in vain for a penalty, before Lazio boss Igor Tudor sought to change things with the introductions of Taty Castellanos and Daichi Kamada.

Juve substitutes Kenan Yildiz and Timothy Weah combined with Vlahovic to create a chance that was snuffed out by Mandas and Yildiz fired an ambitious effort well wide in the closing stages.

Thomas Tuchel admitted Bayern Munich are out of Bundesliga title contention after a 2-0 defeat in Der Klassiker left them 13 points adrift of league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

Karim Adeyemi struck early on before Julian Ryerson sealed a 2-0 win for Borussia Dortmund, their first at the Allianz Arena since 2014, as Bayern’s bid for a 12th league title in a row was left hanging by the thinnest of threads.

For Tuchel, who will leave the Bavarian giants at the end of the season, the matter has already been settled. When asked if they were out of the running for the league crown, he told Sky: “Obviously, yes.

“After this game there is no more need to count points. How many is it now? Congratulations to Leverkusen.”

Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen’s head coach, this week rebuffed speculation linking him with former clubs Bayern or Liverpool as the Spaniard publicly committed his future to his current employers.

They looked set for a first defeat in 39 matches in all competitions after going behind at home to Hoffenheim as Maximilian Beier gave the visitors a 33rd-minute lead they held until the closing stages.

Robert Andrich equalised with two minutes left, lashing home a bobbling effort, and Leverkusen sealed a 2-1 win in added-on time, as Patrik Schick reacted fastest to volley home Nathan Tella’s cross before their hopes of a maiden league title were given a further shot in the arm by Bayern’s setback.

Raphinha’s second-half goal helped Barcelona edge out 10-man Las Palmas 1-0 to close the gap on LaLiga leaders Real Madrid to five points.

Barcelona saw two goals chalked off for offside and Robert Lewandowski hit the bar but Las Palmas had goalkeeper Alvaro Valles red carded for a crude challenge on Raphinha outside his box after 25 minutes.

Xavi’s side were unable to initially capitalise on the extra man but Joao Felix came off the bench and provided a delicately-weighted ball over the top for Raphinha to head into the net in the 59th minute.

AC Milan extended their winning run to six matches with a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in Serie A on an emotional night at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

There had been tributes before kick-off to Fiorentina general manager Joe Barone, who collapsed in the team hotel just as they were preparing to travel to the stadium for the match against Atalanta and later died in hospital.

The Rossoneri produced a clinical display with second-half goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Rafael Leao either side of Alfred Duncan’s equaliser to consolidate second place in the table.

Third-placed Juventus slipped six points behind Stefano Pioli’s team after losing 1-0 to Lazio, who sealed all three points thanks to Adam Marusic’s strike three minutes into stoppage time.

Lazio claimed both the three points and also struck a psychological blow ahead of Tuesday’s Coppa Italia semi-final first leg between the two teams in Turin.

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has challenged his players to rectify the club’s wretched recent results against rivals Napoli to move top of the Serie A table.

Juve have lost five of their past seven league meetings with the reigning champions, including a 5-1 thrashing in January, but are favourites for Friday evening’s clash at Allianz Stadium.

The in-form Bianconeri sit second in the table and will climb above leaders Inter Milan for at least 24 hours by registering an 11th victory of the season.

Fifth-placed Napoli are struggling to mount a title defence and, having last month reappointed former boss Walter Mazzarri after sacking Rudi Garcia, slipped 11 points adrift of Inter following a 3-0 home loss to them on Sunday.

“Tomorrow will be very tough,” Allegri told a press conference.

“Napoli stayed in the game against Inter until the second goal and we’ve only beaten them once in our last seven meetings – that’s something we need to put right.

“They’re a dangerous side away from home and have picked up 17 points on the road already.”

Juventus are just two points behind Inter, with whom they drew 1-1 on November 26, following a nine-match unbeaten run.

Allegri wants a minimum of six points from Juve’s next five fixtures to ensure the club reach the halfway point of the campaign in a stronger position than last term.

“This is a six-pointer – we have five games left before we reach the midway point of the season and they’ll all be difficult,” said Allegri, whose side finished a disappointing 2022-23 campaign in seventh position.

“Our target is to finish the first half of the campaign with more points than we did last term, when we had 38.

“We hope to achieve our target but we mustn’t take it for granted.

“Part of this job involves dealing with the pressure but we have to remember the league doesn’t finish tomorrow. There’s still a long way to go.”

Mazzarri, who initially managed Napoli between 2009 and 2013, beat Atalanta 2-1 in the first match of his second spell before the resounding loss to Inter.

The 62-year-old hopes his team can kick-start a revival by beating one of their fiercest rivals.

“Juventus v Napoli is a match that we know well because of the special sensations it generates and the importance of two teams that have been protagonists of the championship in recent years,” he told a press conference.

“We are playing against an opponent who is doing very well and there is little to add about the depth of the match.

“We go there as Italian champions and we want to highlight the progress that the boys are making.

“If we look at the squads, I don’t think there is as much of a difference as the league table says. This is also true compared to Inter.

“Unfortunately in football there are also moments and this is not a brilliant period for Napoli, especially in relation to the great last season.

“In football sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a change, it’s a question of trust but also of luck.

“There are moments which are going badly but a positive episode can change the wind.”

Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has challenged his team to “find an extra gear” when they take on Lazio in Serie A on Saturday.

The Turin giants are unbeaten in their opening three outings of the season, winning 2-0 at Empoli in their last game before the international break.

Lazio bounced back from losing their opening two matches by winning 2-1 at champions Napoli and Allegri knows they will pose a stern test at the Allianz Stadium.

He said at a press conference: “Tomorrow will be a tough game and we have to be 100 per cent focused on this game alone.

“Lazio are a direct rival for the top four. Lazio are a well-organised team, both in defence and attack.

“Tomorrow we’ll be at home, so we’ll see if we can find an extra gear to click into after the win at Empoli. There’s a good atmosphere in the group and it’s always tough to choose who will start.

“But it’s good to know that we have a competitive squad and that will be important to qualify for next season’s Champions League. It’s a young group with a lot of desire, and tomorrow is a big test.”

Allegri said there was a “good chance” Federico Chiesa would start, having recovered from the muscle issue which forced him to withdraw from the Italy squad.

Having Chiesa available will be a welcome boost for Allegri, the forward having already scored twice this season.

Allegri said he could not comment on the situation facing Paul Pogba, who has been provisionally suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal after testing positive for testosterone.

“We’re sorry about the whole situation and are waiting for developments and further clarity,” he said.

“We hope that light will be shed on what has happened as soon as possible. I can’t comment on other issues because they concern Paul directly and they are strictly personal.”

He also declined to elaborate further on the reasons behind Leonardo Bonucci’s sudden departure to German side Union Berlin earlier this month.

“I’ve already said everything I have to say about Bonucci, a number of times,” he said. “I don’t feel the need to say any more, I only wish him the best of luck for the rest of his career.”