Juventus miss out on Serie A’s top four with Roma draw

MILAN: Juventus missed the chance to move into Serie A´s Champions League positions on Sunday after being held to a 1-1 draw at fellow top four hopefuls Roma.

Igor Tudor´s team stay fifth, level on 56 points with fourth-placed Bologna in a tight battle for a spot in Europe´s elite club competition. Eldor Shomurodov earned Roma a point four minutes after the break with his sixth goal of the season, cancelling out a superb volley crashed in by Manuel Locatelli shortly before half-time. Tudor was brought in last month to get Juve into the Champions League, but Sunday´s draw against a direct rival complicates matters in a six-team fight for two places, with Inter Milan and Napoli contesting the league title and almost certain of qualification.

Juve cannot afford to miss out on the Champions League given the club´s recent negative financial history and the over 200 million euros ($217 million) invested in renewing the squad for Tudor´s sacked predecessor Thiago Motta.

The Turin giants will however move above Bologna on goal difference if Vincenzo Italiano´s side lose at home to Napoli on Monday night, as Juve are only a place below in the table by virtue of having played a game more.

But just six points separate Fiorentina in eighth and third-placed Atalanta, who only lead Juve by two points after falling to a third straight defeat, 1-0 at home to sixth-placed Lazio.

Roma are three points behind Bologna in seventh after a draw which snapped a seven-match run of league wins but showed some encouraging signs for a difficult run-in. Claudio Ranieri´s rejuvenated team face Lazio next weekend in what promises to be a particularly spicy derby, while off-form Atalanta welcome Bologna in another significant match.

Contenders for a first league title only a few weeks ago, a third loss in a row without scoring has left Atalanta looking over their shoulders. Gustav Isaksen poked home Lazio´s winner after a defensive mix-up in the 54th minute in Bergamo, where Atalanta haven´t won a domestic fixture since before Christmas.

Atalanta haven´t even scored in their last four home league fixtures and Sunday´s defeat felt like a hugely successful era was coming to an end for the provincial upstarts, who are expected to lose coach Gian Piero Gasperini in the summer.

Gasperini has been at the helm since 2016 and, with the help of the local Percassi family who guide the club, has taken Atalanta from mid-table fodder to Europa League winners.

But Atalanta´s previously flowing attacking football has dried up since the turn of the year, and stars Ademola Lookman and Mateo Retegui were substituted in the 75th minute with the hosts chasing the game following poor individual performances. Italy striker Retegui missed Atalanta´s only real chance of the game four minutes before Isaksen´s winner for Lazio.