Serie A: Milan Defeat Juventus To Seal Champions League Berth

By Chimezie Nebolisa

AC Milan secured a spot in next season’s Champions League with a 1-0 victory over league rivals, Juventus as a goal from Olivier Giroud ensured a top-four finish in Serie A on Sunday.

Fourth-placed Milan on 67 points hold a six-point advantage over fifth-placed Atalanta heading into the final round of matches, while Juventus sit seventh with 59.

Milan join local rivals Inter Milan and Lazio in guaranteeing their places in next season's Champions League as top-four finishers along with Serie A champions Napoli.

There is still a possibility for five Italian teams to participate in next season's competition if AS Roma beat Sevilla in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Milan manager Stefano Pioli expressed his relief that his team had finally confirmed their participation in Europe's elite club competition.

Speaking after the game, Pioli said: "Clearly, the Champions League gave us much more than we expected and then we felt sad to go out in the semifinal against Inter, but our journey there was more than anyone saw coming. At the same time, we did not do as well as expected in Serie A, but we are in the Champions League for the third season running, I don’t know how many years it had been since that happened."