Napoli's shock 3-2 home defeat to Bologna has left five Serie A teams within just five points of each other in the race for three Champions League places, with Juventus, Milan, Roma and Como closing in on the winners.
Napoli would mathematically secure a place in the top four with a victory at the "Stadio Diego Armando Maradona".
However, they came back from 2-0 down to 2-2, but then surrendered in extra time after a super volley from Jonathan Rowe.
This result means that Napoli (70 points) is now just two points ahead of Juventus (68) in third place, while the difference with Milan (67) and Roma (67) is only three points.
Como (65) is also in the race, just five points behind second place, with two weeks left to play.
This also guarantees that the five matches of week 37 involving these teams will be played at the same time on Sunday at 12:30 local European time.
This is done to ensure that no team has an advantage by knowing the results of the others.
Only the top four teams secure participation in the Champions League this season in Serie A.
Inter have already secured the spot, while five teams are fighting for the remaining three spots.
Goal difference does not matter in Serie A, so if two or more teams finish with equal points, the standings are decided by their head-to-head matches during the season.
If more than two teams are tied on points, then a mini-table is created based on the results of the direct matches between them./Express newspaper/
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