With just four games left to play in the season, the race for Champions League football is hotting up, with Lazio, Udinese and Roma the teams in with a real chance of finishing the season in the elusive fourth position, thereby guaranteeing themselves a place in the third qualifying round of Europe’s premier club competition.
Lazio currently occupy fourth, but their recent form has been somewhat hit-and-miss. The Biancocelesti have not drawn a game since the start of February, and have won six and lost four since then. Edy Reja’s counter-attacking side lost their last game having thrown away a goal lead to a ten-man Inter, and fell to a 2-1 defeat. Their run-in isn’t the easiest, playing Juventus, Genoa and Lecce, and most importantly, fellow Champions League challengers Udinese, in a crunch fixture, which could determine whether the Aquile will qualify for the competition for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
The Zebrette also lost their last match, meaning that they have come away from three of their last four without any points, including a shock defeat to relegation-threatened Lecce. However in only one of the aforementioned last four have Udinese been able to start both of their talismanic frontmen Alexis Sanchez and Toto Di Natale, with both struggling with end-of-season injuries. But with the pair returning for their next game against Fiorentina, Francesco Guidolin will be looking for one final push to recreate the mesmerizing football that saw the Bianconeri thrash Palermo 7-0 to kick off a run of five straight wins through February and March.
Alongside La Viola and Lazio, Udinese play host to relegation-threatened Chievo and travel to league-leaders Milan to complete their season, in a tough run-in which could prevent the side reaching the Champions League for the third time in their history.
Another side who’ve hit a rocky patch of form of late is Roma, but with a win on the weekend against Chievo and other results going their way, Vincenzo Montella’s side are now just four points away from cross-town rivals Lazio, and within touching distance of qualifying for the Champions League for the second consecutive time. On paper the Giallorossi have the easiest run-in of the three teams who are currently in with a real chance of qualifying, with relegation candidates Catania and Sampdoria on their fixture list alongside already-relegated Bari and league-leaders Milan.
Juventus had a chance to get back into the race for fourth on Saturday, and with other results going their way they were set to close the gap to five points with a victory over Catania. However they managed to throw away a two goal lead, with a stunning free-kick from Francesco Lodi in the 95th minute ruling them all but out of the hunt.
The Juve result underlined the unpredictability and madness of Serie A football, and trying to predict who will win the race for fourth is nigh-on impossible. I would like to see Udinese seal the spot – with their use of pace and width unlike every other Italian side in the Champions League this year, I feel that it is the Zebrette who could raise a few eyebrows in the competition next year. However, whether they will reach the competition at all remains to be seen.
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