Charles De Ketelaere scored twice to help Atalanta enhance its chances of returning to the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over direct rival Roma on Sunday.
De Ketelaere scored both goals within two minutes in the first half, but Lorenzo Pellegrini’s spot-kick set up a tense final quarter of the match.
Fifth-place Atalanta moved three points above Roma and has a match in hand. The top five in Serie A qualify for next season’s Champions League with two rounds remaining in the Italian league.
The result also ensured Juventus’ spot in next season’s Champions League despite being surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Salernitana earlier in the day.
It also confirmed Bologna’s first appearance in the Champions League. Tens of thousands of fans immediately started celebrating in the city center, where players are expected to arrive after watching Atalanta’s match together at their training ground.
However, it was more misery for Roma, which was eliminated from the Europa League midweek, giving up a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their semifinal.
Atalanta will face Leverkusen in the final after beating Marseille.
The two teams were in very different states with Atalanta full of confidence after five wins in six matches and Roma the opposite following just one win in the same period.
Atalanta took the lead in the 18th minute when De Ketelaere raced onto Gianluca Scamacca’s through ball and cut past Roma defender Gianluca Mancini before firing into the far side of the net.
De Ketelaere doubled his tally two minutes later after being set up by Teun Koopmeiners following a one-two with Scamacca.
De Ketelaere had numerous other chances to complete a hat trick — including a shot that came off the post — in a magical performance from the on-loan AC Milan midfielder, while Koopmeiners also hit the post with a free kick shortly before the interval.
Roma got back into the match when Pellegrini drilled a penalty into the bottom left corner after Atalanta defender Marten de Roon had tripped Tammy Abraham.
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