Inter crush Udinese to keep Champions League push alive

AFP  |  Milan 

Milan crushed ten-man 4-0 today to assure fifth place in and seal at least action next season while keeping their challenge alive.

have 69 points with two games left and cannot be caught by AC Milan who are nine points behind or Atalanta, who have 58 points before playing fourth-place on Sunday.

and are third and four respectively one point ahead of before both play later today.

"We're still convinced that we can get to the Champions League, but I guess and would say the same thing," said

"The team have grown, but we must continue to do so in the last two games."

Spalletti was asked whether Inter could do without Icardi -- who has scored 28 goals this season -- amid reports the Argentine will exit the club if they fail to secure football.

"It depends on who is replacing him. He is a top player, an exceptional finisher who has an eye for goal and knows where the ball is going," said Spalletti.

"He might be able to do more when it comes to taking part in the build-up, but already this year he has improved on that. In any case, he's deadly in the penalty area."

Inter put last week's last-gasp 3-2 defeat to Juventus behind them, sealing victory with first half goals from Andrea Ranocchia, and

battled for top-flight survival took a knock as they played the final 40 minutes a man down after Seko Fofana was shown red.

Ranocchia headed in off a corner after 12 minutes for Luciano Spalletti's side with getting his first goal just before the break.

Argentine Icardi added a third minutes later to move just one goal short of Lazio's injured top scorer

But Udinese's game was effectively dealt a killer blow five minutes after the break when Fofana was sent off after stamping on Ivan Perisic's ankle with the foul confirmed by video referee.

added a fourth goal with a minute to go with substitute Yann Karamoh missing a chance for a fifth.

remain three points above the relegation zone.

Second-placed Napoli, meanwhile, travel to Torino later Sunday in a game which could decide the championship.

Juventus closed in on a seventh successive title on Saturday by recovering from a goal down to beat Bologna 3-1.

If Napoli lose in Torino, Juventus will claim the title as they have a seven-point lead with two games left.

A Napoli draw would delay Juventus being crowned champions but with a six-point lead and a superior goal difference the side would effectively be champions in all but name.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sun, May 06 2018. 21:40 IST