ROME: AC Milan secured a place in the Champions League next season with a 1-0 victory at Juventus as a goal from Olivier Giroud ensured a top-four finish in Serie A on Sunday.

Giroud guided home a brilliant header from Davide Calabria’s cross in the 40th minute to guarantee Milan at least fourth place and complete Italy’s line-up in Europe’s top club competition next season.

Fourth-placed Milan on 67 points hold a six-point advantage over fifth-placed Atalanta heading into the final round of matches, while Juventus sit seventh with 59.

Milan join rivals Inter Milan and Lazio in guaranteeing their places in next season’s Champions League as top-four finishers along with Serie A champions Napoli.

There is still a possibility for five Italian teams to participate in next season’s competition if AS Roma beat Sevilla in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Milan manager Stefano Pioli expressed his relief that his team had finally confirmed their participation in Europe’s elite club competition.

“Clearly, the Champions League gave us much more than we expected and then we felt sad to go out in the semi-final against Inter, but our journey there was more than anyone saw coming,” Pioli told DAZN.

“At the same time, we did not do as well as expected in Serie A, but we are in the Champions League for the third season running, I don’t know how many years it had been since that happened.”

Juve are in the Europa Conference League spot after being deducted 10 points for illicit transfer activity by the Italian Football Federation on Monday.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side can still reach the Europa League spots as they are one point behind Roma in sixth, although the spectre of more punishment for financial irregularities hangs over the Turin giants.

Allegri said Juve’s season effectively ended after a 3-2 aggregate defeat in their Europa League semi-final against Sevilla earlier this month.

“It’s sad to say it, but our season ended in Seville. That is where we ran out of mental energy,” Allegri told DAZN.

“...It has been an anomalous season, the team put together 69 points, so we should be proud and thank them for what they did,” Allegri added, stressing that without the points penalty, they would have qualified for the Champions League.

“Football gives, football takes away, just like life. We will emerge fortified from this situation. But some teams qualified for the Champions League because we had 10 points taken away. Everyone can agree on that, can’t they?” Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s 89th-minute winner in a 3-2 success over relegated Cremonese reclaimed second spot for Lazio.

Serbia midfielder Milinkovic-Savic had put Lazio two goals ahead at half-time but Pablo Galdames and a Manuel Lazzari own goal had the away side level within four second-half minutes just before the hour mark.

His late winner puts Lazio two points ahead of Inter with the two teams travelling to Empoli and Torino respectively on the final day.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2023