Rome (AFP)
Atalanta, which still has a postponed match, set its sights on third place in the Italian Football League, by defeating its guest Torino 3-0, in the last 38 round, while Napoli, which lost its title to Inter, bid farewell to European competitions next season by drawing negatively with its guest Lecce.
Days after winning the European League title, “Europa League”, at the expense of German Bayer Leverkusen 3-0, and inflicting its first loss this season in various competitions, Atalanta won with a hat-trick from Gianluca Skamaka, Nigerian Ademola Lookman, and Croatian Mario Pasalic from a penalty kick.
Atalanta, which achieved its sixth successive victory in Serie A, and is coached by Gian Piero Gasperini, is in fourth place with 69 points, one point ahead of fifth-placed Bologna, and two points behind third-placed Juventus.
Gasperini, who is courted by Napoli in particular, rejected the idea of the possibility of his departure, and said in front of the happy fans, “I am linked to Atalanta until 2025, and I will remain so.”
Atalanta has a postponed match against Fiorentina on June 2.
The victory of Atalanta, the sixth club in the capital, Roma, which lost to Empoli 2-1, prevented it from qualifying for the Champions League, as it had hoped that the former would finish the league outside the top four after winning the European League title, “Europa League,” and qualifying for the prestigious competition in advance.
Atalanta’s victory in the European title gave the Italian League an additional place in the Champions League, but only if the club did not obtain one of the top four places.
In the second match, Napoli failed to advance to ninth place and maintain its hopes of a European Conference League seat. Coach Francesco Calzona’s men did not find any defensive gaps against Lecce, settling for tenth place with 52 points.
Napoli shot Diego Maradona at its home stadium 24 times, but did not score, while the balls of Sweden’s Jens Kajosti and Belgian substitute Cyril N’Gonji hit the post.
Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen participated in the 65th minute, and it is expected to be his last match in a Napoli shirt, and he remained silent.
Osimhen, the top scorer in the league last season (26 goals), and whose name is being traded with the largest European clubs, finished the season with 15 goals, and Napoli hopes to obtain more than 100 million euros from his transfer to strengthen its ranks before the expected arrival of coach Antonio Conte.
Three coaches took turns supervising Napoli this season, knowing that the southern club will not compete in any European competition for the first time in 14 years.
Lecce almost snatched the winning points from Napoli, but came back with a valuable draw to occupy thirteenth place, while Napoli failed to advance to ninth place, which would have allowed them to participate in the Conference League competition next season if Fiorentina, currently eighth (57 points), had won in the third continental competition of the year. Where the importance is facing the Greek Olympiacos on May 29th.
Napoli did not benefit from the service provided to them by Atalanta by defeating ninth-placed Torino (53 points), which reserves its place in the European arena, if Fiorentina wins the Conference League final.
Empoli ensured their survival in the first division, with a fatal victory over their guest, Roma, with a goal by Senegalese substitute Mbaye Niang in the third minute of stoppage time.
Empoli opened the scoring thanks to Matteo Cancellieri, before Roma equalized through Algerian Houssem Aouar.
Empoli raised its score to 36 points in seventh place, one point ahead of Frosinone, which lost to Udinese through a goal by English substitute Keenan Davis, and accompanied Sassuolo, who tied with Lazio 1-1, and Salernitana to the second division.
In a marginal match, Inter, the champion for the twentieth time in its history, tied with its host Verona 2-2.
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