Milan, Juve miss out on Champions League as Roma and Como qualify

AC MILAN’s season ended in disappointment as a 2-1 home defeat by Cagliari in Serie A on Sunday meant they missed out on the top four along with Juventus, who drew 2-2 at Torino, while AS Roma and Como both won away to qualify for the Champions League.

Milan’s losswas a dismal conclusion to a campaign in which they fell away in the title race and failed to achieve manager Massimiliano Allegri’s objective of a top-four finish.

Despite Alexis Saelemaekers scoring for Milan in the first minute, the visitors turned the match around.

Milan ended with 70 points, behind Roma and Como, ending up in fifth place, while Juve finished with 69 points in sixth. Both teams will play in the Europa League next season.

Champions Inter Milan drew 3-3 at Bologna on Saturday,while second-placed Napoli beat Udinese 1-0 on Sunday.

Roma celebrated finishing third after Donyell Malen and Stephan El Shaarawy secured a 2-0 win at relegated Hellas Verona that took their side to 73 points and a place in the Champions League for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

UNFANCIED COMO QUALIFY FOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Cesc Fabregas’ Como eased to a 4-1 win at Cremonese to secure fourth place on 71 points and condemn the hosts to relegation alongside Verona and Pisa.

The achievement caps an extraordinary rise for the northern Italian club and their Spanish coach as they sealed Como’s first-ever qualification for Europe’s elite club competition two seasons after playing in the second division.

“It is a masterpiece from the whole squad: how they believed, how they respected all the work we wanted to do, they listened, they wanted to raise the level further when it had to be raised,” Fabregas told DAZN.

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TROUBLE AT TURIN DERBY

The Turin derby was marred by crowd trouble as clashes between Juve and Torino supporters outside the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino delayed the kickoff by an hour.

Juventus led 1-0 at the break through Dusan Vlahovic, who then doubled his tally in the 53rd minute.

The hosts mounted a comeback with goals from Cesare Casadei and Che Adams in the 59th and 83rd minutes securing a draw.

ANSA reported that the violence in Turin left one fan in a critical condition, prompting Juventus supporters to demand the fixture be called off. When authorities decided to proceed with the match, many Juve fans walked out of the stadium in protest.

Atalanta, who drew 1-1 at Fiorentina on Friday, came seventh on 59 points and qualified for the Conference League. — REUTERS

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المصدر: New Straits Times