MILAN, May 18: AC Milan, Napoli and Juventus will have to wait until the final day of the season to see which two teams qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Milan, which is bidding to return to Europe’s elite after an eight-year absence, could only draw 0-0 against Cagliari on Sunday to leave it level on points with Napoli after Gennaro Gattuso’s side won 2-0 at Fiorentina.
The two teams are a point above fifth-place Juventus, which beat Serie A champion Inter Milan 3-2 on Saturday.
Milan next plays at Atalanta, which has already qualified for the Champions League. Napoli hosts Hellas Verona and Juventus visits Bologna. The top four qualify for Europe’s premier club competition.
Milan knew a win would guarantee it a return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
Cagliari would have needed a point to secure safety but earlier results meant it was already guaranteed another season in Serie A.
Milan was without star forward Zlatan Ibrahimović, who has also been ruled out of the upcoming European Championship because of a knee injury.
It was reduced to long-range shots in the first half. The Rossoneri went closer in the second period but were denied on several occasions by Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno.
Rodrigo Palacio equalized in the 82nd minute to give Bologna a 2-2 draw at Verona on Monday in a game between two midtable teams in Serie A.
Palacio met a cross at the far post with an outstretched leg to rescue a point with his fifth goal of the season.
Verona had taken the lead in just the second minute when the ball fell to Davide Faraoni in the box after a corner and he slotted home with his first touch. Lorenzo De Silvestri made it 1-1 in the 32nd by turning a low cross in from close range before Nikola Kalinic restored Verona’s lead in the 53rd. Kalinic met a cross from the left with a deft volleyed flick from a tight angle at the near post for his 40th career Serie A goal.
Neither team had much to play for with Verona in 10th place, three points ahead of 11th-place Bologna ahead of this weekend’s final round. (AP)
