MILAN (AP) — Cesc Fàbregas' Como completed a remarkable rise Sunday, qualifying for the Champions League along with Roma on the final day of the Serie A season.
AC Milan and Juventus both missed out, while Cremonese was relegated.
Como, which has never participated in any continental competition in its 119-year history, was playing in the fourth division of Italian soccer just seven years ago.
"When I arrived four years ago as a player we changed in a bar, today we're in the Champions League," Fabregas said. "We trained without a sports center. And today, less than four years later, we're going to play in the Champions League."
The final round featured four teams vying for the two remaining Champions League berths.
Roma managed to win 2-0 at already-relegated Hellas Verona, while Milan lost 2-1 at home to Cagliari. That allowed Como to leapfrog the Rossoneri with a 4-1 victory at Cremonese.
Final Standings:
Roma finished third in Serie A, two points above Como in fourth. Milan ended one point below the Blues, with Juventus a point further back after drawing 2-2 at Torino.
"It's a huge achievement. This is a squad full of kids—nearly all the top 15 players are under 23," Fabregas said.
The club is based on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy and has made rapid progress since Indonesian tobacco billionaire brothers Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono purchased it in 2019, when it was in Serie D.
The Champions League could be enough to keep Fabregas at Como, with bigger clubs across Europe reportedly interested in the 39-year-old coach following his impressive early success in senior management.
In other results, Antonio Conte's last match as Napoli manager was a 1-0 win over Udinese, securing second place. Inter Milan clinched the league title.
Lecce beat Genoa 1-0 to secure Serie A safety, finishing four points above 18th-place Cremonese, which will join Verona and Pisa in the second division next season.
Daniella Matar, The Associated Press