Juve hold top-four spot at Bologna as Atalanta close in on Champions League

New Straits Times

05-05-2025

MILAN: Juventus clung onto their place in Serie A's Champions league positions on Sunday after being held to a 1-1 draw at rivals Bologna.
Remo Freuler's deflected strike in the 54th minute cancelled out Khephren Thuram's early opener and gave Bologna a deserved home draw at a packed Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
Juve are in fourth on goal difference ahead of Roma, in fifth after beating Fiorentina 1-0, and sixth-placed Lazio with the trio all locked on 63 points.
Bologna might sit seventh but they are only a point behind Juve and the Rome clubs and are also in with a chance of their first major trophy since 1974 with the Italian Cup final against AC Milan coming up a week on Wednesday.
The draw also created a even more crowded battle for a place in next season's Champions League with another round of crucial match-ups coming up next weekend.
Juve, without a host of starters at Bologna, are at Lazio while Roma head to Atalanta who were this weekend's big winners in the tussle for the top four with a 4-0 thumping of relegated Monza.
Atalanta are five points ahead of Juve, Roma and Lazio with three matches remaining in the season and are now big favourites to claim one of two remaining spots in Europe's elite club competition.
Charles De Ketelaere netted his first league goals since before Christmas in the first half, before Ademola Lookman and Marco Brescianini completed the rout for Atalanta with well-taken strikes after the break.
Rock-bottom Monza will play in Serie B next season, ending a three-season run in the top flight for the team owned by the Berlusconi family.
Assured of promotion are Sassuolo and Pisa, the latter club securing automatic promotion on Sunday even though they lost 1-0 to Bari as their closest rivals Spezia were beaten 2-1 at Reggiana.
Roma briefly held fourth place by beating Fiorentina, Artem Dovbyk nodding home the only goal of the game in stoppage time at the end of the first half to extend his team's unbeaten league run to 19 matches.
Edoardo Bove had an emotional reunion with Roma fans after the game, the Rome-born midfielder and Romanista openly bawling in front the supporters who paid tribute to the 22-year-old whose footballing future is in the balance.
On loan at Fiorentina until the end of the season, Bove suffered a harrowing on-pitch heart attack in December and hasn't played since being discharged from hospital with a defibrillator installed.
Bove will have to try his hand abroad if the defibrillator, which ensures a regular heartbeat, has to remain permanently due to the stringent health regulations which govern sport in Italy. - AFP