Napoli secures spot but Serie A’s final-day Champions League math is still wide open
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7:41 AM on Sunday, May 17
By DANIELLA MATAR
MILAN (AP) — Napoli secured a spot in next season’s Champions League but the other two remaining places in Europe’s elite club competition could go to any of four teams in Serie A.
Scott McTominay, Amir Rrahmani and Rasmus Højlund scored to help Napoli to a comfortable 3-0 win at already-relegated Pisa on Sunday to ensure Antonio Conte’s team will finish in the top four of the Italian league, with just one round remaining.
AC Milan and Roma also won on Sunday to leave them level on 70 points in third and fourth place. Juventus and Como were two points further back and can't catch Napoli on 73 points.
Milan and Roma play Cagliari and Hellas Verona, respectively, in their final matches. Juventus visits Torino in the derby and Como travels to Cremonese.
Just like in the penultimate round, all those matches will kick off simultaneously.
Inter Milan won the Serie A title with three rounds remaining and there was a party atmosphere at San Siro during the 1-1 draw against Hellas Verona, its final home game of the season.
Inter, which also won the Italian Cup last week to clinch the double for the first time since 2010, was presented with the Serie A trophy after the match before going off on an open-top bus parade through the streets of Milan.
Christian Pulisic came on as a second-half substitute to help Milan to a crucial 2-1 win at Genoa.
Pulisic missed Milan’s last match with a lower-back problem but the United States forward recovered earlier than expected and was brought on in the 76th minute with the Rossoneri winning 1-0 thanks to Christopher Nkunku’s penalty.
Pulisic had an immediate impact, five minutes after coming off the bench, as he laid off the ball to Zachary Athekame, who drilled into the bottom corner from outside the area.
Johan Vásquez pulled one back for Genoa a few minutes later.
Pulisic, who saw a late opportunity saved, extended his scoreless streak to 18 league matches since Dec. 28.
Roma won the derby against Lazio 2-0, but there were brawls between the players after each of the goals.
Roma defender Wesley and Lazio midfielder Nicolò Rovella were spotted throwing punches at each other in the second brawl and both were shown red cards.
Gianluca Mancini twice headed in corners for the goals.
Elsewhere, Juventus was roundly jeered after losing 2-0 at home to fierce rivals Fiorentina, while Como held on for a 1-0 win over Parma to leave Cesc Fàbregas’ team still in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League just seven years after playing in Italy's fourth division.
All 10 Serie A matches were taking place on Sunday, with the teams involved in the relegation battle playing in the evening.
Pisa and Verona had already been relegated but one of two teams could still join them in Serie B going into the final round.
Cremonese won 1-0 at Udinese but remained a point below safety and 17th-place Lecce scored a winner deep in stoppage time to snatch a 3-2 victory at Sassuolo.
Lecce hosts Genoa in the final round.
Cagliari beat Torino 2-1 to guarantee Serie A soccer next season.
Bologna won 1-0 at Atalanta.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer