AC Milan’s match with Hellas Verona was delayed by 25 minutes on Saturday after a sudden hailstorm briefly left the pitch unplayable.

Stefano Pioli’s Milan were due to open this weekend’s round of matches in Italy’s top flight at 1300 GMT but kick-off was pushed back until 1325 GMT.

Fourth in Serie A, Milan are three points behind league leaders Inter Milan after being thumped 5-1 by their local rivals last weekend.

The weekend’s matches will be proceeded by a minute’s silence in honour of former Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, who died aged 98 on Friday.

Later on Saturday Juventus take on Sassuolo before Lazio host Monza in the day’s late match.