Inter back in CL after dramatic win at Lazio

ROME: Inter Milan’s Matias Vecino (R) vies for the ball with Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic during their Serie A match at the Stadio Olimpico.—AP

ROME: Inter Milan are back in the Champions League.

The Nerazzurri ended a six-season absence from Europe’s premier club competition when they produced an extraordinary fightback to win 3-2 over Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday and push their opponents out of fourth place in Serie A.

The fixture list had pitted the two sides on the final day of the season in a direct battle for the fourth and final place in next season’s Champions League group stage with Lazio needing a draw to qualify.

Lazio led 2-1 with 13 minutes left but were stunned after a Mauro Icardi penalty and Matias Vecino header turned the game around for Inter who last qualified in 2011-12.

The two sides finished level on 72 points but Inter took fourth place on the better head-to-head record, which is used to separate teams in Serie A.

“The Champions League has been our aim since the beginning of the season. The finish line,” Inter captain Icardi said. “We were aware of our strength from the start and finally we did it after a crazy match. The game wasn’t going the right way, but we showed strength to get it back on track.”

Inter joined champions Juventus, Napoli and AS Roma, who finished with a 1-0 win at Sassuolo, in Europe’s showcase competition next season.

Several Lazio players were in tears after the final whistle. Lazio go into the Europa League along with AC Milan who sealed direct access to the group stage with a 5-1 rout of Fiorentina.

“There is great regret for what could have been,” said Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi. “We should really have sealed Champions League qualification in the previous matches, and this evening we conceded three goals which we could have avoided.

“This shouldn’t take away anything from what the lads have done this season. We showed we could compete with anyone, we beat Juventus twice. Maybe it was destiny that we weren’t going to make the Champions League. A night like this will remain inside us for a long time.”

Lazio, who finished as top-scorers with 89 goals, drew first blood when Adam Marusic’s off-target shot smacked Ivan Perisic in the face and ricocheted into the far bottom corner after nine minutes.

The hosts almost doubled their advantage but Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s free kick came off the post, and Inter levelled from a corner in the 29th with Danilo D’Ambrosio scoring at the second attempt.

A corner came through to D’Ambrosio and, although goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha saved his initial attempt, he managed to hook his leg around the goalkeeper to turn it over the line. Lazio protested that D’Ambrosio clipped Strakosha’s head in the process but the referee confirmed the goal after checking with the video assistant referee (VAR).

Felipe Anderson finished off a fulminating counterattack to put Lazio back in front before halftime but the drama was far from over.

Inter were awarded a penalty in the 72nd for a handball by Milinkovic-Savic but the referee changed his mind after seeing the incident again on video review.

The visitors did get a penalty kick in the 78th when Stefan de Vrij, who is set to join Inter next month, fouled Icardi.

“If someone else had done that foul, nothing would have changed, it was an accident,” Inzaghi said. “I would play him again 100 times, he had a great match.”

Argentine Icardi took the penalty himself and converted to leave himself and Lazio forward Ciro Immobile as joint top-scorers in the league on 29 goals.

Lazio midfielder Senad Lulic was then sent off for a second bookable offence with Vecino capping an unforgettable night for Inter when he headed in from a corner in the 81st minute as the Roman side fell apart with Spanish defender Patric also sent off in the dying minutes of the game.

NO ESCAPE

There was no great escape for Crotone this year as it lost 2-1 at Napoli on Sunday in the final round of the Serie A season to drop to Serie B.

Crotone avoided relegation last year on the final day with victory at Lazio after picking up 20 out of 27 points.

Crotone knew that a result at Napoli would give it the chance to escape relegation again.

However, Lorenzo Insigne created both goals for Napoli as Arkadiusz Milik headed them in front after 23 minutes and Jose Callejon volleyed home from close range nine minutes later. Marco Tumminello scored a late consolation for Crotone.

In the end, Crotone’s result did not matter as other relegation-threatened clubs SPAL, Cagliari, Chievo Verona and Udinese all won. The team from Calabria finished 18th in the 20-team table with 35 points as they followed Benevento and Hellas Verona into Serie B.

Napoli finished with 91 points after winning 28 and drawing seven of their 38 games and became the first Serie A side to reach 90 points and still not win the title.

Juve lifted the Scudetto for the seventh consecutive year with a game to spare and capped the season with a 2-1 win over Verona on Saturday, during which goalkeeping star Gianluigi Buffon called time on his 17-year career with the Turin giants.

“The team has had an extraordinary season. For three consecutive years we have had club record point hauls. We have always been growing,” said coach Maurizio Sarri. “Since there have been three points for a win, anyone who has ever passed 90 points has always won.”

SPAL finished three points above Crotone after beating Sampdoria 3-1 while Cagliari, who had also been in danger, ended a difficult season with a 1-0 win over seventh-placed Atalanta who qualified for the Europa League qualifying rounds.

Milan were already assured of a spot in the Europa League but made certain of avoiding the qualifying round after coming from behind to crush Fiorentina and round off the season in style.

Patrick Cutrone scored twice for Gennaro Gattuso’s team while Hakan Calhanoglu, Nikola Kalinic and Giacomo Bonaventura shared the other goals at the San Siro.

Federico Chiesa opened for Fiorentina but Turkish international Calhanoglu’s got the equaliser before Cutrone headed in the first of his double four minutes before the break.

Croatian forward Kalinic extended Milan’s lead on 49 minutes off a rebound with Calhanoglu setting up Cutrone for his second 10 minutes later.

Bonaventura completed the rout after a run through midfield on 76 minutes.

Milan finished the season with 64 points while Fiorentina, whose season was devastated by the sudden death of captain Davide Astori in March, missed out on European action by finishing eighth.

Final standings

(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, total):

Juventus 38 30 5 3 86 24 95

Napoli 38 28 7 3 77 29 91

AS Roma 38 23 8 7 61 28 77

Lazio 38 21 9 8 89 49 72

Inter Milan 38 20 12 6 66 30 72

AC Milan 38 18 10 10 56 42 64

Atalanta 38 16 12 10 57 39 60

Fiorentina 38 16 9 13 54 46 57

Torino 38 13 15 10 54 46 54

Sampdoria 38 16 6 16 56 60 54