AC Milan confirmed their place in next season’s Champions League, returning to the competition for the first time since 2013/14, as they won 2-0 away at Atalanta.
Ex-Atalanta midfielder Franck Kessie was the hero, as he so often has been for the Rossoneri this season, scoring a penalty in either half to clinch second place for Milan.
The most significant news in the first half of the evening’s games came in Bologna, where Juventus raced into an early lead and had built up a four-goal cushion by half time.
Atalanta were perhaps expectedly dominant as far as the half’s possession was concerned, but fell behind through one of the exes in Kessie. Theo Hernandez went to ground under a needless challenge from Joakim Maehle and the Ivorian made no mistake, outwaiting Pierluigi Gollini to slot into the bottom corner.
The hosts continued to push after the break. Duvan Zapata became even more dangerous following Luis Muriel’s introduction, as he looked to cause problems for the Rossoneri. Ruslan Malinovskyi had a sight at goal with a long shot of his own, but it was tame and straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Milan’s lead should have been doubled when Rafael Leao was put through on goal. Slipped through and facing Gollini, Leao nicely lifted over the Italian but saw his shot come back off the post.
But Atalanta kept knocking, and Muriel came close again with a curling effort from outside the box.
Milan resisted as Atalanta continued to press relentlessly, and they were awarded another penalty in stoppage time as Robin Gosens handled. Before Kessie stepped up to convert and kill the game off, tempers had flared and Marten de Roon got himself sent off.
