Juventus and Milan squeeze into Champions League at the expense of awful Napoli

Inexplicable Napoli dished out one of their poorest performances of the season when all they needed is a win. It was an unexpected gift from the southerners, who allowed their hated rivals Juventus and Milan to reach the Champions League on a dramatic final day of Serie A.

Juventus did their part with immense confidence and authority – something that hasn’t always been their hallmark during the season. But Bologna were no match for the black and whites who raced to a 3-0 lead at the break with goals from Federico Chiesa, Alvaro Morata and Adrien Rabiot.

In the meantime, Milan took the lead in their tight match in Bergamo against a quality Atalanta side just before the break. The Rossoneri needed to win to ensure Champions League football, but they never looked at ease against a potent black and blue team. Luis Muriel posed a constant threat for Stefano Pioli’s team as everyone kept an ear open for the news from Naples.

An out-of-sorts Napoli team needed a win against Hellas Verona but you could hardly tell by the way they were playing. An utter lack of urgency and ideas going forward resulted in a highly frustrating night at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in the south of Italy. They managed to score a scrappy goal through Amir Rrahmani, but were shocked just nine minutes later by a Verona equalizer that gave the edge to Juventus, who were certain to beat uninterested Bologna.

Napoli tried to put some pressure on Verona, but it was the visiting team who looked more dangerous. Desperate attempts yielded no goals and there were heads in hands all over Naples while Milan celebrated their first Champions League participation since 2014.

Juventus were already planning a fire sale to deal with the financial hit caused by the lack of Champions League football, but they couldn’t believe their luck when they heard the news from the south. Napoli are out, Juve and Milan are in.

Mamma mia, what a crazy night in Italy!

SERIE A - FINAL DAY

Saturday

Cagliari - Genoa 0-1 (0-1)

/Shomurodov 15/

Crotone - Fiorentina 0-0

Sampdoria - Parma 3-0 (2-0)

/Quagliarella 20, Colley 44, Gabbiadini 64/

Sunday

Inter - Udinese 5-1 (2-0)

/Young 8, Eriksen 44, Martinez 55 pen, Perisic 64 Lukaku 71 - Pereyra 59/

Atalanta - Milan 0-2 (0-1)

/Kessie 43 pen, 90+3 pen/

Bologna - Juventus 1-4 (0-3)

/Orsolini 85 - Chiesa 6, Morata 29, 47, Rabiot 45/

Napoli - Verona 1-1 (0-0)

/Rrahmani 60 – Faraoni 69/

Sassuolo - Lazio 2-0 (1-0)

/Kyriakopoulos 10, Berardi 78 pen/

Spezia - Roma 2-2 (2-0)

/Verde 6, Pobega 38 - El Shaarawy 52, Mkhitaryan 85/

Torino - Benevento 1-1 (1-0)

/Bremer 29 – Tello 72/