For the second successive season, Serie A has one club remaining in the last 16 of the Champions League as Italian football struggles to compete in Europe's premier club competition and risks falling even further behind.

A stoppage-time Lazar Samardzic penalty gave Atalanta a 4-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, sending the Italian side into the last 16 of the Champions League 4-3 on aggregate.

Serhou Guirassy scored a goal and laid on another as Borussia Dortmund beat Atalanta 2-0 at home on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League knockout phase playoff tie.

Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac called on his side to recreate their domestic form on the Champions League stage when they take on Atalanta in the knock-out play-offs on Tuesday.

Gian Piero Gasperini is preparing for a big return to Atalanta on Saturday as his Roma team travel to Bergamo trying to stay in touch with Serie A's title chasers.

Atalanta sealed an important Champions League comeback victory, overturning Chelsea 2-1 at home on Tuesday through goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Charles De Ketelaere.

Croatian Ivan Juric has been sacked as coach of Atalanta after back-to-back Serie A defeats left them in the bottom half of the table, the club announced on Monday.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored a superb goal as Paris Saint-Germain began the defence of their Champions League crown with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Atalanta at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

Atalanta will compete in Europe's elite club competition for the fifth time since 2019.

The 1-1 draw left Juve level on 63 points with Roma and Lazio in fifth and sixth respectively, with Bologna just one point behind in seventh.

Marco Brescianini tapped home into an open goal with two minutes remaining to snatch a point from the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where a passionate crowd thought a big win was coming their way.

"It's been a wonderful year, we're sorry it's ending, let's hope that 2025 will be just as good," Gasperini told DAZN.

Substitute Zaniolo decided a hard-fought encounter in Sardinia by stroking home Raoul Bellanova's cut-back in the 66th minute and moving Atalanta five points clear.

Fiorentina earlier remained on Napoli's heels after their 1-0 home win over Cagliari in their first league match since midfielder Edoardo Bove's sudden collapse last weekend.

Spaniard Raya dived low to his right to beat out Mateo Retegui's spot kick in the 51st minute then sprang across his goal to claw away the forward's follow up header.

Inter Milan thrashed Atalanta 4-0 on Friday to move provisionally top of Serie A, while Torino snatched a late 1-0 win at Venezia to continue their positive start to the campaign.

Gian Piero Gasperini lavished praise on his "incredible" Atalanta players after they stunned Bayer Leverkusen to win the Europa League and claim their first ever continental honour.

Ademola Lookman scored a stunning hattrick as Atalanta ended Bayer Leverkusen's 51-match unbeaten run to win the Europa League final 3-0 on Wednesday and claim their first trophy for 61 years.

Bayer Leverkusen had won only two major trophies in their 119-year history before this season but on Wednesday the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions have the chance to claim a double when they face Atalanta in the Europa League final in Dublin.

Dusan Vlahovic shot Juventus to the Italian Cup with the only goal in Wednesday's final against Atalanta who were denied a first trophy in six decades.