Serie A, Week 38: AC Milan steal third place late

Four of SB Nation Italia’s esteemed reporters sat down after the final league fixtures to thrash out their first choice XI of the season. Alongside myself, I’m joined by fellow contributors Jack Sargeant, Iain Cannell and Managing Editor Kirsten Schlewitz.

Goalkeeper

It took a late push and a bit of luck, but AC Milan completed a late comeback to beat Siena 2-1 and finish third in Serie A.

Milan started the game in dominant fashion. From the whistle, Milan pressured Siena off the ball and before long; the pressure resulted in a dipping Mario Balotelli shot from 20 yards that was well saved. From the resulting corner, the ball was flicked to the far post where Christian Zapata failed to meet the ball to guide it into an empty net. Robinho was also taking free-kicks at this point so psyching out Siena seemed to be the tactic.

Not even Edinson Cavani looked on song, with the Serie A top scorer managing to blaze high and wide when clean through on goal after half-an-hour. He managed to bypass some ‘defending’ from Nicolás Burdisso, though completely sliced his one-on-one.

Roma continued to look the better side, and had a great chance to score right on the stroke of half-time. Marquinho cut in off the left and drilled the ball towards the far post, with Rosati tipping his shot away. Unfortunately it was straight into the path of Mattia Destro, though his follow-up rattled the woodwork, before the follow-up’s follow-up was cleared off the line.

Cagliari hit the front from a set piece with 15 minutes left to play. Sau whipped the ball into the box for Dessena to leap highest and head in just yards from goal. Floccari saw a goalline scramble come to nothing as Lazio failed to find an equaliser. All eyes will be on Rome for next weekend’s explosive Derby della Capitale Coppa final.

Cagliari: Avramov, Avelar, Astori, Rossettini, Dessena, Nainggolan, Conti, Eriksson, Thiago Ribeiro, (Cossu 69) Ibarbo, (Nene 86) Pinilla (Sau 73)

With the confidence of a two goal lead at the break, Udinese were able to allow Inter a little more space and possession in the second half however after just seven minutes of the second period, the Zebrette had a three goal lead, courtesy of the perfect counter attack. Luis Muriel pounced upon a cleared Inter corner and ran two thirds of the length of the pitch before passing for Gabriel Silva to his left, the Brazilian winger delicately chipping the ball over the oncoming Handanovic.

Just two minutes later and that hope was extinguished as Udinese got a sensational fifth. A ball over the top looked easy for Handanovic to deal with however a mix-up between Yuto Nagatomo and the Slovenian goalkeeper allowed Muriel to score one of the easiest goals of his career into the empty net, a neat summary of Inter’s entire season all in the space of a few seconds.

It was a win for Fiorentina, but in the end, the win wasn’t enough. Despite the 5-1 victory for la Viola, the last minute goal from Philippe Mexes, putting Milan ahead of Siena, meant that the rossoneri are the ones that (might) be playing Champions League football next season.

But the Viola weren’t content to leave things in the hands of fate. Before the break, Mati Fernandez put in a third. Less than four minutes after Ljajic’s second, Fernandez gave a lovely little turn and then flicked it on past Perin, who at that point, decided his vacation had already started.

Inter injuries and suspensions

Udinese injuries and suspensions

Lazio came from behind to defeat the Sardinians 2-1 in Rome back in January and eased to a 3-0 victory in this fixture last season.

Cagliari injuries and suspensions

Not only must the viola win on Sunday, Milan must also fail to win. Should Fiorentina grab all three points, and Milan get just one, it’ll be Fior playing Champions League football next season -- if they get through the qualifiers, of course. Thanks to a 3-1 victory at the San Siro in November, and a come from behind draw in Florence last month, Fiorentina will go through if the sides wind up equal on points.

But that won’t happen. Yes, the viola will beat Pescara. The reverse fixture was a fluke and, at this point, the dolphins don’t even have pride to play for. In fact, that match against Fiorentina back on January 6 was the last time Pescara won a match. They finished the season on just 22 points, eight behind 19th placed Siena, and have an impressive -53 goal difference.

Siena injuries and suspensions

Out: Simone Vergassola, Nicola Pozzi, Carlos Matheu (injured) In doubt: Almost everyone else

The Rossoneri look to hold all the cards, but should they draw and Fiorentina win, then it will be the Viola who qualify by right of a better head-to-head record. Fiorentina won 3-1 at the San Siro in November, then came back from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw in Florence last month.

Should Lazio finish just behind Udinese - for a third consecutive season, the Eagles have a second chance of qualifying through the Coppa Italia.

*there’s also that little detail of the Coppa Italia, of course. keep reading.

Given that they’ve got pretty much nothing to play for in the league, Roma can be forgiven for not paying much attention to this game. After all, they’ll be back out on the Olimpico’s field for a final time next week, looking to beat Lazio and take the Coppa Italia. Managing to squeeze through this game without sustaining any injuries could be their top priority.

Juventus wrapped up the Serie A title a couple of weeks ago, and will open the final round away at Sampdoria. Delio Rossi’s Samp have been in bad form of late, though having guaranteed safety, they’ve got nothing to play for either -- other than putting a damper on the the bianconeri title party.

all matches at 8:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET unless otherwise noted