The eyes of Serie A soccer fans were
on Rome's Stadio Olimpico Monday ahead of a crucial match
between AS Roma and SS Lazio to see which team will qualify
directly to next season's Champions League.
If AS Roma win, they will be sure to finish second in Serie
A with a game to spare and qualify for the group stage of the
Champions League along with Italian champions Juventus.
Roma are second in the standings but just one point ahead
of third-placed Lazio, who were still recovering from
Wednesday's 2-1 defeat to Juventus in the Coppa Italia final.
If Lazio win Monday's match, scheduled for 18:00 local
time, they will leapfrog Roma and go second, but the allocation
of the Champions League berths will not be settled until the
final weekend.
The team that comes in third place in Serie A gets a place
in the Champions League playoffs.
The last two derbies involving Roma and Lazio ended in
draws and sports media in the Italian capital were reporting
that the odds were good that Monday's match could end in the
same way.
A draw would favour Roma by preserving its better chance of
second spot.
But a tie would also ensure Lazio finish at least third,
meaning fourth-place Napoli cannot catch them if they win next
week's clash between the teams.
Fourth place is good for a place in the continent's
secondary club competition, the Europa League.
Meanwhile, officials said that they were on a high security
alert with plans to employ about 1,700 police officers to
prevent violent clashes between ultra fans for the two sides.
A large perimeter around the stadium was to be patrolled
and extra efforts made to keep the two sides apart, particularly
the extreme supporters.
About 48,000 spectators were expected for the match and
stands were to open at 15:00 local time, with streets in the
area being closed to traffic, officials said.
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