Champions League chasers Juventus and Bologna set to draw | Football News

Juventus and Bologna were both held to goalless draws on Saturday as Torino and Monza slowed down the Serie A club’s Champions League bids. A Turin derby draw saw Bologna drop points for the second consecutive week, leaving third-placed Juventus four points clear of Bologna on a quiet night in Italy’s top flight. Italian clubs’ good performances in Europe this season mean Serie A is all but guaranteed to secure an extra spot in next year’s revamped version of the continent’s top club competition.

This should ensure Juve will return to Europe’s elite ranks come September. They are 13 points ahead of sixth-placed Atalanta, who face Verona on Monday night.

However, Massimiliano Allegri’s side have won just two of their last 11 games and are 19 points behind reigning champions Inter Milan after challenging for the title in January.

“We haven’t achieved our goal yet… It’s a football goal for those of us involved in the team, but it’s an economic goal for the club,” said Allegri, whose team was disqualified last year. Points deducted and missed European football matches. .

“If you have three or four chances in the first half and don’t take them, especially against a Torino team that has the fourth-best defensive record in Serie A, the game becomes difficult.”

Juve didn’t do enough to win the City Derby, but Dusan Vlahovic should have scored in the sixth minute when he received a pass from the right from Federico Chiesa and fired a shot into the net from close range. column.

Vlahovic was also denied by a smart save from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic just after the hour mark, while Duvan Zapata scored for Torino seconds after half-time , but his goal was ruled out for a foul by Raoul Bellanova on Filip Kostic.

Torino are in ninth place after Saturday’s draw, five points behind Atalanta and the Europa League places.

Bologna are seeking a first-ever Champions League spot despite having played just one round in the old European Cup in 1964, the same year they recently won the Serie A title.

Roma, who beat AC Milan in the first leg in the Europa League quarter-finals, are in fifth place and will be one point behind Bologna if they beat Udinese on Sunday.

Earlier, Nicola Sansone’s last-gasp goal gave Lecce a 1-0 win over fellow struggling Empoli.

Sansone scored the decisive goal into an empty net with a minute remaining in southern Italy, lifting Lecce to 13th, six points above the relegation zone.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)