In this round of Serie A, Roma played away against Atalanta, which was a key battle with a major impact on the fight for five, and as a result, Roma lost 1-2 to their opponents, and they also paid a heavy price for this defeat.
A few days ago, both teams played in the semi-finals of the Europa League, and in terms of physical strength, both sides were half-hearted. However, from the perspective of form, there is a world of difference between the two teams. Among them, Atalanta reached the final, while Roma was eliminated, and the morale was very different.
Sure enough, at the beginning of the game, Atalanta launched a tidal attack on the gate of Rome like a tiger descending a mountain, and finally they scored two goals in two minutes to completely destroy Roma. In the 18th minute, De Ketelaere received the ball and then cut inside and volleyed home. During the whole process, the Roma defender followed the opponent like a "nanny", escorting him, and no one stepped forward to press, allowing him to score easily.
Two minutes later, the score was changed again when De Ketelaere latched on to a team-mate's cross and slotted home with ease. This time, Roma also did not mark him, and the visitors' defence in the penalty area was like papier-mâché.
Maybe it was too easy to take a 2-0 lead, and after that Atalanta kept squandering chances and the pressure on Roma was greatly reduced. In the second half, Roma counter-attacked, Abraham was brought down after a shot from inside the box to win a penalty for Roma, and then Manuel Pellegrini scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-2, but Roma failed to score again after that, and finally had to lose away from home.
After 2-1, the pattern of the Serie A competition for five changed overnight, and the fate of five teams, including Bologna, Juventus, Atalanta, Roma and Lazio, was also rewritten:
1. Due to Roma's loss, Bologna and Juventus are 7 points ahead of sixth, and both teams have locked the top five in advance and advanced to the Champions League next season;
2, Atalanta is currently 1 game less, 3 points ahead of Roma, plus the two sides are fighting this season, Atalanta has the advantage of 1 win and 1 draw, and the last 3 league games, Atalanta only needs to win 1 more game, it will definitely lock the top five and ensure the qualification for the Champions League next season;
3. If Atalanta ranks fifth and wins the Europa League, sixth in Serie A will also qualify for the Champions League, but now Roma is only 1 point ahead of Lazio behind them. Judging from the current situation, Rome is not only hopeless in fighting for the top five, but may even lose the top 6 throne.
In the final two rounds, Roma will face Genoa (home) and Empoli (away), and with just one winless match, they could be overtaken by Lazio. In fact, even if Roma finally finishes 6th, it will be difficult to reach the Champions League, because Bayer Leverkusen is the favorite to win the Europa League, and they have a great chance to beat Atalanta to win the title, and now Roma may have to be mentally prepared to miss the Champions League!