A thoroughly absorbing battle for three of the four Champions League positions reserved for Serie A by European football governing body, Uefa, has gripped Italy’s top flight. With Napoli already crowned champions for the third time, attention has been shifted to the other European slots. A gluttonous appetite for continental football in the country has been whetted by the sight of five Italian sides in the semifinals of Europe’s three premier competitions.
Milan giants AC and Inter Milan are locked in a semifinal showdown for the right to face either Real Madrid or Manchester City in next month’s Champions League final. Record Scudetto winners Juventus face Europa League specialists Sevilla in the tournament semis, Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma battle Germany’s upstarts Bayer Leverkusen in the second tourney semi and Florence club Fiorentina lock horns with Swiss outfit in a two legged Europa Conference League last four duel.
Maurizio Sarri’s were in pole position to snap up one of the places in the world’s most famous club competition but three losses in their last four outings, including setbacks in match ups with direct rivals, Inter Milan and AC Milan, has witnessed the Rome based club drop to third place, two points behind serial titlists Juventus. Lazio have an opportunity to get back to winning ways when they open week 35 of Serie A action on Friday against Lecce.
Inter Milan have surged up the standings in recent weeks thanks to the return to form of strikers Eden Dzeko – plunderer of a hat trick in a 6-0 whitewash of Hellas Verona, Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku. They have a chance to cement fourth place when they welcome Sassuolo to the San Siro on Saturday night. Ousted champions AC Milan, who are currently two points off Champions League qualification pace, make a difficult trip to Spezia the same evening.
Reigning Europa Conference League winners AS Roma make a difficult trip to Bologna on Sunday afternoon, less than 72 hours after they hosted Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League. Roma are five points behind Inter Milan, which dictates that manager Mourinho must rotate his line up to keep players fresh for the trip to Germany. Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta, who are level on points with Roma, face Salernitana on Saturday.
FRIDAY
Lazio v Lecce
SATURDAY
Salernitana v Atalanta,
Spezia v AC Milan,
Inter Milan v Sassuolo
SUNDAY
Hellas Verona v Torino,
Monza v Napoli,
Fiorentina v Udinese,
Bologna v AS Roma,
Juventus v Cremonese
MONDAY
Sampdoria v Empoli,
Sassuolo v Monza
