Juventus keep top-four hopes alive, Roma edge Fiorentina

Juventus clung onto their place in Serie A’s Champions league positions on Sunday after being held to a 1-1 draw at rivals Bologna.

Remo Freuler’s deflected strike in the 54th minute cancelled out Khephren Thuram’s early opener and gave Bologna a deserved home draw at a packed Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.

Juve are in fourth on goal difference ahead of Roma, in fifth after beating Fiorentina 1-0, and sixth-placed Lazio with the trio all locked on 63 points.

Bologna might sit seventh but they are only a point behind Juve and the Rome clubs and are also in with a chance of their first major trophy since 1974 with the Italian Cup final against AC Milan coming up a week on Wednesday.

The draw also created an even more crowded battle for a place in next season’s Champions League with another round of crucial match-ups coming up next weekend.

Juve, without a host of starters at Bologna, are at Lazio while Roma head to Atalanta who were this weekend’s big winners in the tussle for the top four with a 4-0 thumping of relegated Monza.

Atalanta are five points ahead of Juve, Roma and Lazio with three matches remaining in the season and are now big favourites to claim one of two remaining spots in Europe’s elite club competition.

Charles De Ketelaere netted his first league goals since before Christmas in the first half, before Ademola Lookman and Marco Brescianini completed the rout for Atalanta with well-taken strikes after the break.

Rock-bottom Monza will play in Serie B next season, ending a three-season run in the top flight for the team owned by the Berlusconi family.

Assured of promotion are Sassuolo and Pisa, the latter club securing automatic promotion on Sunday even though they lost 1-0 to Bari as their closest rivals Spezia were beaten 2-1 at Reggiana. Juventus manager Igor Tudor remained upbeat even though his side missed a chance to strengthen their grip on fourth place, saying that the battle for Champions League football was still firmly in his side’s hands.

Tudor denied that anything was decided at Renato Dall’Ara Stadium.

“There are three games left and we are still fourth, albeit level on points. We go to Lazio with confidence, then there’s Udinese and Venezia,” Tudor told DAZN.

“I said before kick-off that whatever the result, nothing will be decided tonight. I am saying the same against Lazio, one game cannot decide everything when there are so many teams crammed together in a few points.”

Although the hosts controlled possession throughout, Juve created multiple significant opportunities to secure a win, including two goals ruled out for offside, but Tudor insisted the result was fair.

“The players gave their all... We created opportunities, but we are content with the point, all things considered.” Bologna coach Vincenzo Italiano shared the same outlook.

“There are still nine points up for grabs and that’s an enormous amount at that level of the table,” he said.

“It will be a real battle, there are many head-to-head clashes still to be played, so whoever has the most consistent mentality and intensity will reach their objective.”

Bologna are set for an exciting end to the season, starting with an away match against AC Milan, followed by a Coppa Italia final clash with the same opponents, before facing Fiorentina and Genoa.

“Clearly, the first meeting with Milan is in Serie A, we must go there to pick up points. I think we’ll be very concentrated and it won’t distract us ahead of the Coppa Italia,” Italiano said.

Agencies