MILAN IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DANGER

Italian football giants AC Milan led the Serie A for several weeks as they were the pacesetters before newly crowned champions Inter Milan took over at the summit and it would be a big blow if they don’t qualify for the Champions League next season as one of the four representatives from Italian football at the end of proceedings on the final day of the season scheduled for the coming weekend.

AC Milan have themselves to blame if they don’t return to the Champions League after several years in the other UEFA competition called the Europa League. The Rossoneri had just one job but they surprisingly fluffed their lines to make Champions League qualification more difficult. They would have sealed their return to the Champions League with a win over visitors Cagliari at the weekend but the seven-time European champions could only play a goalless draw with the team from Sardinia.

Milan started the weekend in third place and with a two-point cushion over Napoli in fourth place and a three-point cushion over Juventus in fifth place. The teams are aware that only a place in the top four of the Serie A will secure Champions League football in the new as one of the representatives of Italian football.

While Juventus and Napoli won their penultimate league game of the season to close the gap on Milan, the Rossoneri could not beat Cagliari at the San Siro.

On their part, dethroned Italian football kings Juventus edged champions Inter Milan in a five-goal thriller at home with the two teams finishing the game with ten men, while Napoli secured a 2-0 away win over 10-man Fiorentina. With the victories, Napoli and Juventus closed the gap on Milan to head-to-head and one point respectively. To this effect, Milan need to win their difficult game at Atalanta to seal the return to Champions League football.