Atalanta close in on UCL spot

ROME: Atalanta took a big step towards Champions League football on Sunday by beating Serie A top-five rivals Roma 2-1, a win which also guaranteed spots for Bologna and Juventus.

A brilliant brace from Charles De Ketelaere in the first 20 minutes gave Atalanta, still on a high from reaching the Europa League final, a fully deserved win in Bergamo.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side sit in Italy’s fifth and final Champions League spot, three points ahead of Roma with a game in hand against Fiorentina which they will play the weekend after the scheduled end of the season.

Atalanta, who also face Juventus in the Italian Cup final tomorrow, looked set to sweep Roma aside in the same manner in which they dealt with Marseille on Thursday to reach their first ever European final.

But they had to overcome a tense finale after Lorenzo Pellegrini’s 66thminute penalty gave the away side hope.

Defeat for Roma followed up their heartbreaking last-four elimination from the Europa League at Bayer Leverkusen.

Daniele De Rossi’s team, who were missing injured talisman Paulo Dybala, have little chance of finishing fifth but can still reach the continent’s top club competition even if they finish sixth, if Atalanta win the Europa League.

Thanks to Atalanta’s win Bologna will make their first appearance in the modern Champions League as they and Juve, who could only draw with relegated Salernitana, are seven points ahead of Roma with two rounds of fixtures remaining. Third-placed Bologna played one match in the old European Cup in 1964, the same year they won the last of their seven league titles, and effectively sealed their place with a 2-0 win at Napoli.

RESULTS

Genoa 2 (Badelj 56, Kumbulla 63-og) Sassuolo 1 (Pinamonti 31-pen), Juventus 1 (Rabiot 90+1) Salernitana 1 (Pierozzi 27), Lazio 2 (Patric 45+2, Vecino 89) Empoli 0, Verona 1 (Swiderski 67) Torino 2 (Savva 77, Pellegri 83), Atalanta 2 (De Ketelaere 18, 20) Roma 1 (Pellegrini 66-pen)