MILAN: Atalanta are firmly in contention for next season’s Champions League after beating lowly Lecce 3-0 Monday and creeping to within five points of Serie A’s top four.

Goals from Giorgio Scalvini, Lecce old boy Nikola Krstovic and Giacomo Raspadori gave seventh-placed Atalanta a straightforward win at the Stadio Via del mare.

Raffaelle Palladino’s side took advantage of Como’s goalless draw at Udinese in Monday’s early fixture and the 5-2 hammering dished out to AS Roma by league leaders Inter Milan last night.

Roma, in sixth and the Conference League spot, and fifth-placed Juventus lead Atalanta by a single point, with Juve hosting Genoa in their next match.

And with Atalanta welcoming Juve on Saturday — Como face Inter by the lake on Sunday — and then travelling to Roma the following weekend, the Bergamo club are back in the Champions League mix.

Lecce were booed off by disgruntled fans after a defeat which left their team back in the relegation zone, level on 27 points with Cremonese who sit just outside the bottom three thanks to their superior head-to-head record.

INTER DISMANTLE ROMA

On Sunday, Inter delivered a ruthless attacking masterclass to dismantle Roma at home, tightening their grip on the Serie A title as Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez spearheaded the rout.

The victory gave Inter a nine-point cushion at the top of the table with 72 points with only seven rounds of the season remaining following that fixture.

Inter took a 59-second lead when Thuram squared for Martinez to fire home, and though Gianluca Mancinis header briefly drew Roma level, Hakan Calhanoglu restored the advantage for the hosts in first-half stoppage time with a long-distance strike.

Thuram and Martinez combined again early in the second half, with the Frenchman threading a pass for Martinez to sweep in his second before Thuram headed home a corner minutes later.

Nicolo Barella added a fifth for the hosts just after the hour mark, while Lorenzo Pellegrini pulled one back for the visitors.

“We needed to get out there with the right attitude, because Roma are a very strong team, who play man for man. We are happy, Thuram made the difference, as he usually does,” Martinez told DAZN.

Earlier, Bologna won 2-1 at relegation-threatened Cremonese to move up to eighth before hosting Aston Villa in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday.

Joao Mario and Jonathan Rowe scored early for Bologna before Federico Bonazzoli pulled one back late for Cremonese by converting a penalty. Youssef Maleh of Cremonese and Lewis Ferguson of Bologna were each sent off in stoppage time.

Cremonese were without former Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, who sat out due to a muscle injury.

Also, Torino won 1-0 at last-place Pisa with an 80th-minute goal from Che Adams.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2026