Juve at in-form Roma with Champions League in the balance / Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO - AFP/File
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Juve at in-form Roma with Champions League in the balance
Juventus' bid to salvage Champions League football from their deeply disappointing Serie A campaign will be seriously tested on Sunday night at red-hot Roma as the battle for a top-four spot hots up.
Igor Tudor's fifth-placed side are one point outside the Champions League positions ahead of their trip to Rome after a shaky, if winning, start against Genoa last weekend.
And with six teams still in the hunt for two places with eight matches remaining, Juve head to Rome at real risk of not reaching Europe's elite club competition.
Juve cannot afford to miss out on the Champions League given the club's recent negative financial history and the over 200 million euros ($217 million) invested in renewing the squad for Tudor's sacked predecessor Thiago Motta.
Seven points separate third-placed Atalanta and Fiorentina in eighth on a weekend when the six contenders either face a direct rival or another type of tough fixture.
Juve are being kept out of the top four by in-form Bologna who host title-chasing Napoli on Monday night and are on a run of six straight wins after beating Empoli 3-0 in Tuesday's first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final.
Meanwhile both Roma and Lazio -- at Atalanta on Sunday -- are three points behind Juve with Fiorentina a further point back ahead of their home clash with troubled AC Milan, who sit ninth and nine points behind Bologna.
At the Stadio Olimpico Juve will face Italy's form team in Roma, who are hunting what would be a surprise Champions League qualification after a remarkable renaissance under Claudio Ranieri.
Roma are on a seven-match winning streak in Serie A and haven't lost in the league since before Christmas, dropping just six points in their last 14 fixtures.
However Juve are the first of a run of tough fixtures for Roma who have made the most of their recent matches against more modest opposition and have lost talisman Paulo Dybala to injury for the rest of the season.
After taking on Juve, Roma face local rivals Lazio and have trips to league leaders Inter Milan and Atalanta, as well as the visit of Fiorentina, in a make-or-break end to the campaign.
Inter, meanwhile, face one of the less strenuous fixtures of their April tour de force, against Parma on Saturday with the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in Germany coming on Tuesday night.
Inter, three points ahead of Napoli at the top of the division, are sweating on the condition of captain Lautaro Martinez ahead of the trip to Bavaria.
Player to watch: Riccardo Orsolini
Winger Orsolini is in hot form for Bologna ahead of their clash with Napoli, with five goals in his last five matches for a team gunning for a second consecutive qualification for the Champions League.
The 28-year-old is having a great season under Vincenzo Italiano with 13 goals and three assists, and is pushing to be brought back into the Italy fold after being ignored by Luciano Spalletti.
Azzurri boss Spalletti was at Bologna's thumping of Empoli on Tuesday night and watched Orsolini lash in the opening goal and perform a "knock-knock" gesture into a pitchside TV camera.
That was a clear message to Spalletti who hasn't called him up once since two short appearances in friendlies before last year's disastrous title defence at the European Championships.
Key stats
6 - The number of teams contesting two Champions League places, from third-placed Atalanta to Fiorentina in eighth.
3 - Inter's points lead over Napoli.
Fixtures (times GMT)
Friday
Genoa v Udinese (1845)
Saturday
Monza v Como (1300), Parma v Inter Milan (1600), AC Milan v Fiorentina (1845)
Sunday
Lecce v Venezia (1030), Empoli v Cagliari, Torino v Verona (1300), Atalanta v Lazio (1600), Roma v Juventus (1845)
Monday
Bologna v Napoli (1845)
R.Ryan--NG
