Champions League finalists Inter Milan have secured a spot in next season’s competition by beating Atalanta 3-2 in Serie A after scoring two goals inside the first three minutes for the first time in more than 80 years.
Mario Pasalic pulled one back for Atalanta in the first half but Lautaro Martinez sealed Saturday’s home win late on, before Luis Muriel scored another for Atalanta in stoppage time.
Inter moved second in Serie A, above Lazio and AC Milan ahead of their matches on Sunday.
They are now assured of a top-four finish as fifth-place Atalanta fell eight points behind the Nerazzurri with just one game left for each.
Inter, who play Manchester City in the Champions League final on June 10, knew that a point would be enough to guarantee them a place in the top four.
And they got off to the perfect start at San Siro as Martinez threaded a ball through to Romelu Lukaku, who rounded Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello and scored into the empty net after just 39 seconds.
Inter then doubled their lead in the third minute. Federico Dimarco saw two attempts parried by Sportiello and Nicolo Barella managed to get onto the second rebound and volley it into the roof of the net.
Inter thought they had further extended theirs lead in the ninth minute but Hakan Calhanoglu’s volley was ruled out for offside.
Atalanta recovered from their poor start and managed to get back into the match in the 36th minute when Inter failed to clear a corner and the ball eventually came through to Pasalic, who scored from close range.
Despite Atalanta reducing the deficit, it was Inter who seemed the closer to getting another goal after the break. And they did so in the 77th when Lukaku held off defenders in midfield and managed to send a through ball to Marcelo Brozovic, who raced clear on goal before rolling across for Martinez to slot home.
Muriel set up a tense finale when his free kick came off the Inter wall but he managed to strike the rebound in off the crossbar.
Roma will have to rely on winning the Europa League to qualify for the Champions League after losing 2-1 at Fiorentina, following two late goals from their opponents.
Stephan El Shaarawy volleyed Roma into the lead in the 11th minute but Luka Jovic leveled in the 85th and Jonathan Ikone completed the comeback three minutes later.
The result left Roma four points below Milan with just one match remaining.
Roma play Sevilla in the Europa League final on May 31.
Fiorentina, who lost the Italian Cup final to Inter on Wednesday play West Ham in the Europa Conference League final on June 7.
The Serie A relegation battle will go down to the final day of the season after Spezia were routed 4-0 by Torino.
That left Spezia just one point above the relegation zone and Hellas Verona, who host Empoli on Sunday.
Spezia visit Roma in their final match, while Verona travel to Milan.
Also on Saturday, Salernitana fought back to earn a 3-2 win over Udinese.
Australian Associated Press