Where The Story Turns
MILAN — Como secured a Champions League place on the final day of the Serie A season, completing one of the most improbable rises in European football history. The club finished fourth in Italy's top flight after a 4-1 victory at Cremonese, leapfrogging AC Milan in the process.
Roma also qualified for Europe's elite club competition, finishing third after a 2-0 win at already-relegated Hellas Verona. Inter Milan claimed the title some weeks earlier.
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
AC Milan, booed off at home after a 2-1 loss to Cagliari, finished one point behind Como. Juventus lost ground by drawing 2-2 at Torino after leading by two goals.
The Stakes In Plain Sight
Cremonese, along with Verona and Pisa, will play in Serie B next season.
"When I arrived four years ago as a player we changed in a bar, today we're in the Champions League," Fabregas said. He mentioned the squad had only 15 players who featured regularly, nearly all under 23 years old. Nearly four years ago the team trained without a proper sports center.
The club was purchased in 2019 by Indonesian tobacco billionaires Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono. At that time Como played in Serie D, the fourth tier of Italian football. The club has never appeared in any continental competition.
The Question Left Open
Napoli closed their season with a 1-0 win over Udinese, finishing second in Serie A. Antonio Conte's last match in charge produced the expected result.
Lecce beat Genoa 1-0 to secure survival, moving four points clear of 18th place.