Milan  - Sampdoria and Juventus played out a dull scoreless draw Saturday as they opened the fifth Serie A weekend in Genoa.

Juve advanced on to nine points, drawing level in second position with Lazio and Napoli, who Sunday play at Torino and Bologna, respectively. Samp lie low in the standings on four points.

Front-running champions Inter Milan have 10 points ahead of a high-voltage derby against six-point AC Milan that closes the weekend late Sunday.

Juve were the first to threaten despite Samp's midfield dominance and came close on four minutes as Dane Christian Poulsen fires a high drive from inside the area.

Captain Alessandro Del Piero came even closer on 20 minutes with his low drive bouncing off the far post, and aimed high from close range at the end of a fairly dull first half.

A wide header from Lithuania's Mario Stankevicius on 35 was the only first-half chance for the hosts, who relied on Gennaro Delvecchio upfront while Antonio Cassano as usual acted as play maker.

Cassano opened the second half with a narrowly wide free kick before Paolo Sammarco on 53 minutes nodded high off a corner kick.

More mistakes for Juve brought the signature of Pavel Nedved and team top striker Amauri, who remained stuck on three goals this season as he fired his first attempt high on 59 minutes.

There was little thrill in the remainder of the game for the fans at the Luigi Ferraris as both sides kept producing plenty of mistakes in midfield and seemed content to notch a point each.

Austria's goalkeeper Alex Manninger made a last crucial save for Juve as substitute Daniele Dessena fired home off a throw-in in injury time.

In late Saturday action, Fiorentina welcome Genoa at Florence's Artemio Franchi. (dpa)