MILAN (AP):

Alessandro del Piero scored in his last league appearance for Juventus as the newly crowned Serie A champions defeated Atalanta 3-1 yesterday to become only the second Italian side to win the title by going the whole season unbeaten.

Del Piero signed off in style in front of the home fans as he doubled Juventus' lead in the 28th minute to cap a near 20-year career with the club.

"I had tears in my eyes several times,'' said Del Piero, who has yet to decide where he will play next season. "Everything was very moving, the bond with people goes above everything and I will always carry that with pride. I am happy and proud of all this.

"In certain aspects it is an incredibly beautiful day, there's a bit of sadness but it's right that way. I celebrated with the fans, with my teammates, doing what I like most, that's winning.''

It was also emotional at San Siro as AC Milan bid farewell to club stalwarts Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso and Filippo Inzaghi as well as Mark van Bommel.

Inzaghi scored to help Milan beat Novara 2-1.

The city of Turin was in party mood with hundreds of thousands of fans gathered in the streets as Juventus celebrated their first title in nine years. Around 5,000 fans welcomed the team bus as it arrived at Juventus Stadium, decorated with three stars as the club still counts the two titles it was stripped of following the 2006 match-fixing scandal.

Juventus took the lead in the ninth minute when Marco Borriello forced his way into the area and set up Luca Marrone, who opened the scoring with a powerful right-footed shot.

And Del Piero, who has been at Juventus since 1993, scored his 289th goal for the club shortly before the half-hour when he fired home from the edge of the area.

The Juve captain was substituted in the 57th minute to a standing ovation as the players and staff of both teams joined in with the resounding applause for the club icon.

The standing ovation and cheers continued even after Del Piero had left the field and the fomer Italy forward got back off the bench and walked around the pitch saluting the fans and gathering scarves which had been thrown down to him. Many fans were in tears.

Atalanta pulled one back eight minutes from time when Juventus defender Stephan Lichtsteiner turned Giacomo Bonaventura's cross into his own net but the home side restored its two-goal advantage in stoppage time after Thomas Manfredini brought down Borriello in the area and Andrea Barzagli fired home the resulting penalty.

The celebrations continued through the night, with an open-topped bus parade taking place.