Nigeria: Como, Roma seal Champions League spots on dramatic final day as Milan, Juventus miss out

By Zuleihat Owuiye, Nigeria

The 2025/26 Serie A season ended in chaos, celebration, and heartbreak on May 25, 2026. At one end of the table, Como completed one of Italian football’s most improbable modern ascents by qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in club history. At the other, traditional giants AC Milan and Juventus watched Europe’s premier competition slip away on a final day marred by fan violence and late kickoffs.

Cesc Fabregas’s Como secured fourth place and a Champions League spot with a commanding 4-1 away win over Cremonese. The result confirmed their rise from the third tier of Italian football just seven years ago to the summit of European competition.

When Indonesian tobacco giant Djarum acquired the lakeside club in 2019, Como were playing in Serie C and hadn’t featured in European competition in their 118-year history. The investment and strategic appointment of Fabregas as head coach transformed the club’s trajectory. After back-to-back promotions, they stabilized in Serie A last season and exploded this year.

Against Cremonese, Como showed the composure of a seasoned European side. They dismantled a team that will now drop down to Serie B, scoring four goals to seal the result early. The win meant Como finished fourth, two points clear of the chasing pack.

For a club that had never played in Europe, the qualification is seismic. San Siro and the Bernabeu will host Como next season. The Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, perched on the shores of Lake Como, will host Champions League nights for the first time. 

Fabregas, in his first full season as a senior manager, called it “the proudest achievement of my career.” The former Arsenal, Barcelona, and Chelsea midfielder has built a side that blends tactical discipline with attacking flair, and now he gets to test it against Europe’s best.

Joining Como in the top four is Roma, who ended their own Champions League drought with a 2-0 win at Verona. The Giallorossi hadn’t featured in the competition since being knocked out by Porto in the Round of 16 in 2019.

Under Gian Piero Gasperini, Roma have rebuilt with a clear identity. The 2-0 win at an already-relegated Verona was professional and efficient, ensuring third place and a direct route into the Champions League group stage.

The result is a major validation for the American Friedkin family, who bought the club in 2020. After years of near-misses and Europa League runs, Roma are back where they believe they belong. 

Gasperini’s impact has been immediate. Known for his high-intensity, attacking system at Atalanta, he has reshaped Roma into a side that presses aggressively and creates chances in volume. A top-four finish in his first season is a statement that the project is ahead of schedule.

Juventus will play Europa League football next season after failing to secure the points needed on the final day. Their delayed derby against Torino kicked off over an hour late due to “public safety” concerns, following pre-match clashes between rival fans that left one Juventus supporter hospitalized.

When the match finally started, Dusan Vlahovic gave Juve the lead in the 24th minute. A win would have pushed Luciano Spalletti’s side into fifth place. But the delayed start and tense atmosphere seemed to unsettle the team, and they couldn’t hold on to secure the result needed to leapfrog Como.

The outcome means Juventus miss the Champions League for the second time in three seasons. For a club that dominated Italian football through the 2010s, the decline is stark. Spalletti, appointed to restore stability, now faces a summer of questions about squad depth, recruitment, and whether the club can return to the elite level quickly.

The Europa League offers a path back to Europe’s top table through winning the competition, but it also means fewer resources and less prestige than Champions League participation.

If Juventus’s disappointment was quiet, AC Milan’s collapse was explosive. Starting the day in third place, Milan only needed to avoid defeat at home to Cagliari to secure Champions League football. Instead, they lost 2-1 in a performance that encapsulated a chaotic season.

Alexis Saelemaekers gave Milan the perfect start with a goal in the second minute. But two tap-ins, one in each half from Gennaro Borrelli and Juan Rodriguez, turned the game on its head. The defeat dropped Milan to sixth and out of the Champions League places entirely.

The reaction from the San Siro was immediate and furious. Fans protested loudly against owners RedBird before, during, and after the match, venting frustration at a season that promised so much and delivered so little. Chants calling for ownership change echoed around the stadium long after the final whistle.

Milan started the day in third and ended it outside European qualification for the Champions League. The swing is a damning indictment of inconsistency and poor decision-making. Once again, the club finds itself in crisis, with questions over the coach, the sporting director, and the long-term project under RedBird.

The final table reshapes the power dynamics in Serie A. Como and Roma in the Champions League means two clubs with very different models have broken into the elite. Como represent the modern, investor-backed project that climbed from the lower leagues. Roma represent a historic club reasserting itself under new ownership and a proven coach.

Juventus and Milan, two of Italy’s most successful clubs, are left to rebuild. Their absence from the Champions League will have financial and sporting consequences. Player sales, reduced transfer budgets, and difficulty attracting top talent all become more likely.

The fan violence that delayed the Torino-Juventus derby also casts a shadow over the day. Italian football has made strides in stadium safety and fan culture, but incidents like this show the problem hasn’t gone away. Serie A will face scrutiny over security and how to prevent similar scenes next season.

For Como, the focus now shifts to recruitment and preparation. Competing in the Champions League while maintaining a league campaign will test the squad’s depth. Fabregas will need reinforcements, but the appeal of Champions League football makes the job easier.

Roma will enter the Champions League with momentum and a clear tactical identity under Gasperini. The challenge will be balancing European demands with Serie A, where they’ll aim to close the gap on Inter and Napoli.

Juventus and Milan face summers of introspection. Both clubs need structural changes if they want to return to the Champions League consistently. For Milan, the pressure on RedBird is now intense. For Juventus, Spalletti’s project enters a critical second season.

One thing is certain: Serie A won’t look the same next year. The old guard stumbled, and two new names have crashed the party. Champions League nights at Como and Roma will be the story of 2026/27.