Roma serve up win over Juve to court automatic Champions League place

Match point? That’s what they were calling it in the Italian papers, Juventus needing only a draw away to Roma to seal a record-breaking sixth consecutive Scudetto. The Bianconeri looked set to take it, too, producing the equivalent of a 150mph serve as Mario Lemina put them in front in the 21st minute. But Roma responded with a passing shot straight down the line.

Goals from Daniele De Rossi, Stephan El Shaarawy and Radja Nainggolan turned a 1-0 deficit into an emphatic 3-1 triumph. Roma became the first team to beat Juventus in Serie A for four months. Their manager, Luciano Spalletti, celebrated overcoming these opponents in a league match for the first time in his entire career.

Will it change the outcome of this year’s title race? Of course not. Juventus still have two more match points in hand. A win in either of their remaining fixtures, at home to Crotone and away to Bologna, would guarantee them first place.

Could this put a dent in the Old Lady’s morale, however, at a sensitive moment in their treble pursuit? That is a less straightforward question to answer. Juventus have now gone three games without a win in Serie A and had already required an injury-time equaliser just to rescue a draw at home to Torino.

The easy response is to note that they have rotated heavily for all of these matches – keeping starters fresh for cup commitments in midweek. It is not an excuse that will wash with Leonardo Bonucci. “We’ve completely switched off,” he lamented at the end of Sunday’s game. “This is inconceivable. Unworthy of Juve.”

Certainly, the week ahead looks more complicated than it once did. Juventus must stay in Rome until Wednesday, when they return to the Stadio Olimpico to face Lazio in the Coppa Italia final – a fixture that was only moved up from June after they had beaten Monaco and created a clash with the Champions League final.

Then, on Sunday, comes the appointment with Crotone. Despite sitting 18th, the Calabrians have taken 17 points (five more than Juventus) from their last seven games. The gulf in quality is such that it ought to be a non-contest but a team in such form should never be taken lightly.

What is beyond doubt is that this was a hugely important victory for Roma. Napoli’s 5-0 rout of Torino earlier in the afternoon had temporarily dropped the Giallorossi to third. The importance of securing automatic passage to the Champions League group stages should not be underestimated for a club whose spending potential rests heavily on the income that tournament generates.

Despite boasting the second-highest revenue of any Serie A club in 2015-16, Roma’s commercial income was still only €34m – roughly one-third of what Juventus, Milan and Inter each made. By contrast, the Giallorossi pulled in €73m from their share of Champions League broadcast rights.

When it comes to continental competition, the gulf between football’s haves and have-nots remains vast. Lazio, who exited that same tournament at the play-off stage, made a total of €9m in TV revenue from their run to the last 16 of the Europa League. It is not hard to see why ownership groups might be reluctant to invest in new players without knowing that qualification is secure.

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More than that, though, Roma might have felt Sunday’s win was vindication. They had played with the aggression and commitment of a side with a point to prove – one sick of being told that this season is a failure when they have already accrued more points than they did in the previous campaign.

Despite being without Serie A’s top scorer, Edin Dzeko, as well as the suspended Kevin Strootman in midfield, Roma looked sharper than Juventus – quicker to the ball and more incisive in their attacking movements. They had begun with Diego Perotti as a false nine but it was the continual swapping of positions between him, Mohamed Salah, El Shaarawy and Nainggolan that left the visitors’ reshuffled defence in a twist.

Spalletti, in particular, could take satisfaction from such a performance in a year when he has often been accused of getting his tactics wrong for the big games. That, and also of showing insufficient respect towards Francesco Totti. His introduction of the forward two minutes into injury time felt like a deliberate response to his critics.

The manager’s frustration had been evident one week previously, when he was pilloried in the wake of a 4-1 win at Milan for not getting Totti on for a final run-out at San Siro. “If I could go back, I would never have come to manage Roma,” Spalletti said at the time – pointing out that journalists had charged him with tokenism when he did send the player on for the last few minutes of other matches.

He dodged questions about his future this weekend, insisting he was only thinking about the next two games. However, the club’s new sporting director, Monchi, opened the door to a possible renewal on Monday, saying: “My ideal manager would be Spalletti. He’s the one I have wanted to work with since the day I arrived … Now that we are in day-to-day contact he has made a great impression on me.”

There is much else to be resolved at Roma this summer, not least a new contract for De Rossi – who has now scored in three consecutive games for the first time in his career. But on Sunday he and his team-mates just wanted to celebrate. Juventus will still have their title – but they will have to earn it on a different court.

Talking points

Only a single point separates Crotone from safety and yet that still feels like a substantial gap when you look at their remaining fixtures. After the visit to Juventus on Sunday, their final match is against fourth-placed Lazio. And yet, would you want to bet against them? They rode their luck at times against Udinese, who hit the woodwork in the second half (although so did Crotone), but somehow they keep finding the goals they need, despite the fact that no player other than Diego Falcinelli has scored more than three times this season.

In stark contrast to Crotone’s 17 points from the last seven games, Inter have taken justonly one over the exact same stretch. Fans in San Siro’s Curva Nord declared their intention to draw a veil on this miserable season - accompanying the message with a giant visual metaphor – before deserting their lunchtime kick-off against Sassuolo altogether. The banner they left behind bore the message: “Given that you cannot deserve our support, we’re going to say goodbye and go eat.”

What a week for Atalanta, who bought out their Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia (meaning that they will now be able to modernise it and improve revenue streams), signed manager Gian Piero Gasperini to a three-year contract and then secured their first European qualification in 26 years. All to the backdrop of what will surely be this summer’s smash hit: Papu Gómez collaborating with those scamps at Gli Autogol for a music video celebrating his dance moves.

Not a good weekend for Joe Hart, who has conceded 10 times in two meetings with Napoli. The goalkeeper said last week that he expects to return to the Premier League and the blunt truth is that his performances have not been good enough for Torino to fight to keep him. The Granata have conceded at least once in each of their last 17 league games – their longest run without a clean sheet since 1950.

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None of which, by the way, should take away from another scintillating performance by Napoli. Take away a miserable October – the month in which, not coincidentally, Arkadiusz Milik was injured and the team struggled to immediately work out the best way to replace him – and they have been quite possibly the best team in the league.

Results: Inter 1-2 Sassuolo, Bologna 3-1 Pescara, Cagliari 3-2 Empoli, Crotone 1-0 Udinese, Palermo 1-0 Genoa, Sampdoria 1-1 Chievo, Torino 0-5 Napoli, Roma 3-1 Juventus, Fiorentina 3-2 Lazio, Atalanta 1-1 Milan.