MILAN Atalanta makes no concessions, overwhelms Torino at the Gewiss Stadium and effectively closes Roma’s possibility of becoming the sixth Italian team qualified for the next and renewed Champions League. With the 3-0 given to the Granata, the Gasperini gang leapfrogs Bologna into fourth place and now aims to finish third ahead of Juventus if they win in injury time against Fiorentina on June 2nd. For De Rossi’s Roma, therefore, the match against Empoli becomes almost irrelevant if not to try to at least get ahead of their cousins Lazio. Atalanta wanted to celebrate their historic Europa League victory in the best possible way and they did it in their own way with another performance full of grit and organisation. Juric’s Toro, still in the running for a place in the Conference, was effectively disintegrated in less than a half. For Juric, a bitter farewell to the Granata bench, his boys never appeared capable of containing the excessive power of Lookman and his teammates. To hope for a place in Europe, Torino must now hope that Fiorentina win the final in Athens against Olympiacos. Gasperini’s team seems not to be affected by the efforts and celebrations after the Europa League victory. The Nerazzurri in fact faced the match as always to the maximum of their potential, overwhelming a Torino team unable to counter the furious pressing of the Nerazzurri. The former Zapata often found himself dealing with the opposing defense alone, without ever managing to make himself dangerous. Atalanta took the lead in the 26th minute with De Keteleare serving Scamacca in the area, the striker turned to the right and slipped the ball past the goalkeeper. The second goal came in the 43rd minute again with De Keteleare who crossed low to the center for Pasalic, the Croatian finished centrally but Gemello let the ball slip away and it was child’s play for Lookman to push the ball into the net. In the second half the music doesn’t change and after a goal disallowed again by Lookman, due to a foul by Scamacca, the Goddess scores the hat trick in the 71st minute with Pasalic converting a penalty awarded due to a foul by Tameze on the possessed Nigerian attacker. The ending is pure academy.
Partenopei out of European cups
In the other afternoon match, Napoli did not go beyond a 0-0 draw at home against Lecce, remaining out of Europe for the first time in many years due to unfavorable head-to-head matches with Torino. The Azzurri walked off the pitch to Maradona’s boos for a disappointing season, just a year after last year’s historic Scudetto win. After a lackluster first half with few chances, Napoli kept the ball but it was Lecce who came close to scoring on the counterattack on at least two occasions, at the start with a post hit by Dorgu and at the end of the first half with a low shot from Berisha , in the second half the Azzurri try to change gear. Napoli dangerous several times in the first minutes with Ngonge, a post from Cajuste and again with Raspadori. Osimhen’s entry onto the pitch in the second half wasn’t enough and he should have played his last match with the Napoli shirt today. The same could be true for captain Di Lorenzo, who also left the pitch amidst boos from the fans. Lecce for its part becomes dangerous with counterattacks, but without attacking effectively. For Gotti’s Salento team, however, a historic season ends, culminating with the second consecutive salvation. Objective never achieved in the past.
