Another Serie A shambles: Uncertainty over Juventus' points deduction calls the integrity of the league into question

Just like the rest of us, Jose Mourinho knew what was coming.

The week before Juventus' appeal against a 15-point penalty deduction, the Portuguese manager was asked about Roma's strong position in Serie A.

"Are we third in the standings?" Mourinho asked on DAZN. "Are we sure that Juve don't have 59 points? We are in Italy..."

And so it unsurprisingly came to pass on Thursday afternoon that Juve's penalty was revoked, for the time being at least, and the table changed dramatically.

Juve jumped from eighth to third, pushing Mourinho's Roma down into the fourth and final Champions League spot, with AC Milan dropping to fifth, and Inter to sixth.

After leading the Old Lady past Sporting CP and into the semi-finals of the Europa League late in the evening, coach Massimiliano Allegri called it "a beautiful day" - and it was certainly positive from Juve's perspective.

However, Mourinho's colleague at Roma, sporting director Tiago Pinto, was less impressed and admitted to Sky Sport Italia: "I have to laugh, so I don't cry..."