Champions League race blown wide open by Atalanta

Atalanta have caught Roma in fifth place and have a game in hand, so ultimately Champions League qualification could be decided after the season has ended.

La Dea fought back for a 2-1 victory away to Salernitana this evening, with Gianluca Scamacca and Teun Koopmeiners turning it around.

That took them up to 60 points, the same as Roma, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Juventus last night.

Inter and Milan have already qualified for the Champions League, while Juventus will be guaranteed a spot too if they beat rock bottom Salernitana this weekend.

That effectively leaves only two spots remaining in the new, expanded tournament for 2024-25.

Champions League state of play

Bologna have the advantage on 64 points, but have slowed down recently with four draws in their last five games.

Atalanta now have the momentum and crucially a game in hand with Fiorentina, which was called off in March following the collapse of Viola director Joe Barone in the team hotel.

It has not been rescheduled yet because both teams are involved in the Coppa Italia and the Europa or Conference League, so have a packed fixture list.

This means they probably won’t be able to face off until June, once all the other results in the Serie A season have been decided.

There is another big potential twist in the tale, because Roma and Atalanta will go head-to-head in Bergamo on Sunday.

If Atalanta or Roma win the Europa League, then they will automatically qualify for the Champions League, so we could see the top six all go into the competition.