Rome derby chaos and Milan unrest as Serie A's Champions League chase hots up

Chaos reigns in Serie A once again as a row with security authorities in Rome left Champions League chasers Roma wondering when they would play their derby clash with Lazio, while crisis-club AC Milan desperately try to avoid dropping out of the top four.

Roma, in fifth, will face their local rivals at midday (1000GMT) on Sunday but the kick-off time of one of Italy’s most emotionally fraught matches has dragged on all week, hampering the capital club’s bid to return to Europe’s top club competition.

On Tuesday Rome’s Prefect, the head of public safety, ordered that the derby be moved from 12.30pm Sunday to Monday night, in order to stop the volatile fixture from clashing with the men’s final at the Italian Open.

The Stadio Olimpico is situated on the same Foro Italico site as the tennis tournament, one of the ATP’s top-ranked Masters 1000 events, and the decision was made in order to avoid any fan disorder taking place near a more genteel sporting public.

That ruling sparked institutional bedlam in Italy as all five matches involving clubs trying to secure Champions League football — also including Como, Juventus, Milan and Napoli — have to kick off at the same time.

Just five points separate second-placed Napoli and Como in sixth, making Sunday’s fixtures some of the most important of the season due to the financial impact of reaching, or not, the Champions League.

Serie A and fans reacted with fury at the ruling, setting the course for two days of appeals and back and forth between the league and Rome’s security apparatus.

The issue became such a hot potato that the administrative tribunal dealing with Serie A’s appeal against the ruling simply threw it back at the bickering parties and asked them to sort it out among themselves.

In the meantime Roma’s hardcore fans said they wouldn’t attend one of their team’s biggest matches in years in protest at a farcical coda to an embarrassing season for Italian football, while Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri threatened to abandon the fixture if it wasn’t played on Monday night.

In the end, two days of angry statements and wall-to-wall media coverage ended with the five matches crucial to Champions League qualification being moved forward by just half an hour.

– Milan meltdown –

The chaos has also affected Milan who were already in crisis ahead of their trip to Genoa, due to a dramatic slump in form which has put what had looked like a certain top-four finish at risk.

Milan are in a tailspin after collecting just seven points since beating Inter Milan two months ago, when the seven-time European champions looked back in the league title race.

But that hope quickly vanished after scoring just six times since their derby win, and their goalscoring problem has left them fourth and level on 67 points with Roma.

Matters have only been made worse by local rivals Inter strolling to the Scudetto, which they will celebrate at the San Siro and throughout the city following the champions’ home fixture with relegated Roma.

Angry fans abandoned the San Siro stands during last weekend’s home loss to Atalanta and the bile has reached such a point that Gerry Cardinale, the founder of Milan’s owners RedBird, gave a rare interview to the Gazzetta Dello Sport to defend his ownership and suggest there could be changes in the close season.

“To not have won the league is disappointing, not reaching the Champions League would be a failure,” said Cardinale.

“We you have to have the best people, you need to be able to attract the best in every area, and we’re not there yet.”

Cremonese could go straight back down to Serie B if they don’t win at Udinese, but only if Lecce manage to beat Sassuolo.