Three weeks remain the 2024-25 Serie A season and, in case you haven’t noticed, there is still plenty to be sorted out. That’s very much the case in the title race, but even more of the situation when it comes to the host of teams that are competing against one another to finish in the top four and make the Champions League next season.
Juventus enter Matchday 36 in fourth place. But they are not the only team that is sitting on 63 points. The company that Igor Tudor’s squad has has a very Rome-centric feeling to it, with both Roma and Lazio level on points with a Juventus squad that is coming off a 1-1 draw with Bologna this past Sunday night.
And just like last weekend, the Serie A fixture list has given us head-to-head matchups that will have a huge role to play in who actually sits in fourth place a few days from now.
We get Juve traveling to the Italian capital to face sixth-place Lazio in a game that will see Tudor facing the club that he was managing this time last year for the first time since parting ways with the club early last summer. We also have third-place Atalanta — the only club from third place down to eighth — that probably feel pretty confident in their current standing hosting Claudio Ranieri’s Ranieri and their 19-game domestic unbeaten run in Bergamo. And then there’s Bologna heading to the San Siro to face the same AC Milan squad they will meet in the Coppa Italia final and Fiorentina trying to hang onto any sort of top-four hopes against relegation-threatened Venezia.
It’s another potentially wild weekend that will stretch into a new work week with two of those fixtures taking place Monday night.
As we will do for the final three matchdays of the 2024-25 season, we will go ahead and take a look at what the five contenders for fourth place in Serie A are up to the coming weekend.
Juventus at Lazio: Saturday, 18:00 CEST
Tudor heads back to his old stomping grounds at the Olimpico with a game that is looking like a potential make-it-or-break-it scenario for Juventus in terms of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Regardless of what Bologna does Friday night in Milan, if either Juventus or Lazio win, they’re in fourth by themselves for at least the next 48 hours ahead of what Roma does against Atalanta.
You drop points — be it through a draw or a loss — and you’re hoping that you get some help from Atalanta to wrap up Matchday 36 to stay in fourth.
It’s pretty straightforward in a race for fourth place that has taken a ton of turns over the last few weeks — especially as Roma has now become a serious player in everything.
Lazio, like the other half of the Rome that inhibits the Olimpico, moved into what has proven to be this three-team logjam on 63 points with a 1-0 win over Empoli in Sunday’s lunchtime kickoff. It was a victory that has made Lazio’s recent form guide a rather interesting sight, with Marco Baroni’s squad alternating between wins and draws the last six matchdays.
Juventus head to Rome in yet another injury crunch, as options available to Tudor looking to be as limited as they have been since he took over for Thiago Motta in the middle of March. He could very well be without six of what would likely be regular starters if they were healthy, the most recent injury taking place last weekend when Andrea Cambiaso had to come off in the second half against Bologna with a thigh issue.
Bologna at Milan: Friday, 20:45 CEST
The first matchup involving a team gunning for the top four could very well result in four teams being level on 63 points if Milan and Bologna record a draw at San Siro.
Which, based on how the race for fourth place is going, would make total sense since things don’t exactly seem to be all too logical this season.
Bologna, who have just one win in their last five, enter Friday night’s trip to Milan in seventh place and one point behind the three-team logjam on 63 points in front of them. Their recent away form isn’t much better, as Bologna have recorded just two wins in their last six games away from the Dall’Ara. (Those two wins are against Hellas Verona and Venezia, in case you’re curious.)
Milan’s form continues to be … well … all over the place. Sitting in ninth place and six points off fourth with three matchdays to go, Milan are probably too far removed to get in on the craziness that is this race for the top four. But with three wins in their last four, they’re at least entering the final three weeks of the season on a positive note.
This will be the first of back-to-back games between Bologna and Milan, with the Coppa Italia final set to take place next Wednesday at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Roma at Atalanta: Monday, 20:45 CEST
Along with Lazio-Juventus, this is the biggest matchup of Matchday 36.
It’s a six-point swing that could see Atalanta pretty much wrap up their hold on third place or, if a certain result at the Olimpico goes in their favor, Roma could end the day in fourth place all by themselves.
It’s truly remarkable that Ranieri has gotten his beloved Roma into this kind of position with three games to go — especially their form going from above the relegation zone three months into the season when he was hired to now being a serious player for Champions League football next year.
Since recording draws against Juve and Lazio, Roma have won three straight games by an identical 1-0 scoreline. Before those back-to-back draws, Roma recorded three consecutive wins by, you guessed it, a 1-0 scoreline. That’s just how they’re going these days — it’s not always pretty, it’s not high scoring or anything close to it, but it’s a winning formula that Ranieri has got going at Roma.
Atalanta have rebounded from their back-to-back losses to Fiorentina and Lazio to end March and begin April, respectively. With three wins in their last four, Gian Piero Gasperini’s squad has been able to regain the breathing room between third place and the rest of the crowd competing for fourth that they had for much of the late winter months and early spring.
Fiorentina at Venezia: Monday, 18:30 CEST
With their loss to Roma this past Sunday, Fiorentina are in need of the most help if they are to get back into the discussion of being a contender for the top four.
Just like last week, Fiorentina will try and pick up three points following one leg of their UEFA Conference League matchup against Real Betis. The first leg saw Betis claim a 2-1 victory at home in Seville, as La Viola will try and flip things in their favor at the Franchi.
Venezia — who Juve play at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on the last weekend of the season — sit in 18th place, with Lecce a point ahead of them as they sit outside of the relegation zone.
On paper, this is Fiorentina’s easiest opponent left, with Bologna and Udinese to come the next two weeks. (Although it’s hard to say how much Udinese will care seeing as they’re comfortably mid-table these days.)
