Fabregas guides Como to Champions League for first time

MILAN: Como qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history on Sunday, the lakeside club joining Roma in Serie A’s top four as AC Milan imploded in a 2-1 defeat by Cagliari.

Milan’s loss left the seven-time kings of Europe out of the top four after a calamitous end to the season.

Juventus also missed out on an eventful final day marred by fan violence that caused their 2-2 draw at Torino to be delayed by more than an hour.

Como’s 4-1 win at Cremonese, who drop down to Serie B, and Milan falling to a shock home defeat was enough for Cesc Fabregas’s side to cap their incredible rise from the lower leagues to Europe’s top table.

Como finish the season fourth, two points behind Roma whose 2-0 win at already-relegated Verona ensured third place and an end to their long absence from the Champions League.

Roma have not played in Europe’s elite club competition since being knocked out by Porto in the last 16 in 2019, and a top-four finish came following goals from in-form Donyell Malen and Stephan El Shaarawy.

But even that achievement pales into insignificance compared to Como, who have never played in European competition in their history and were in the third tier of Italian football when acquired by tobacco giant Djarum in 2019.

“It’s up there with all my achievements for how it was done and with whom we did it, because we did it with very young players, almost all of them are under 23 years old. That’s amazing,” said Fabregas.

Che Adams forced home Torino’s late leveller as Juve finished the season sixth following a match that kicked off late for “public safety” after one of the Turin giants’ fans was admitted to hospital following pre-match clashes with rival supporters.

Juve’s draw was even more galling for Milan, as it meant that a point against Cagliari would have given Massmiliano Allegri’s team fourth ahead of Como on head-to-head record.

Milan started the day in third and looked set to reach the Champions League when Alexis Saelemaekers scored in the second minute.

But tap-ins in each half from Gennaro Borrelli and Juan Rodriguez left Milan out of the top four and back in crisis.

© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd

المصدر: New Straits Times