Como caps stunning rise with a Champions League spot as Milan and Juventus miss out

MILAN (AP) — Como’s remarkable rise continued Sunday as Cesc Fàbregas’ team qualified for the Champions League along with Roma on the last day of the Serie A season.

AC Milan and Juventus missed out, and Cremonese was relegated.

Como, which has never participated in any continental competition in its 119-year history, was playing in the fourth division of Italian soccer just seven years ago.

“When I arrived four years ago as a player we changed in a bar, today we’re in the Champions League," Fabregas said. "Today I spoke with two physiotherapists, back then we trained without a sports center, in a place I don’t remember where it was. We had massages in the back room of a bar, in a field … And today, less than four years later, we’re going to play in the Champions League.

“It’s a huge achievement, this is a squad full of kids, the 15 players who played the most are nearly all under 23. I think that’s marvelous and a masterpiece from the whole squad."

Fabregas' post-match press conference was interrupted by his overjoyed players, who threw water over their coach as they sang the Champions League anthem, which was also played on a giant speaker they wheeled into the room.

Four teams were vying for the final two Champions League berths in the Italian league’s final round.

Milan and Roma were in pole position as they occupied the third and fourth spots. They were level on points, two above Como and Juventus.

While Roma managed to win 2-0 at already-relegated Hellas Verona on Sunday, Milan lost 2-1 at home to Cagliari. That saw the Rossoneri leapfrogged by Como, which won 4-1 at Cremonese.

Roma finished the season in third place in the Italian standings, two points above Como, which managed fourth place and a spot in Europe's elite club competition.

Milan — which was loudly booed at the end of its match — finished the season one point below Como, with Juventus a point further back.

Juventus let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Torino in a match that kicked off an hour late because of fan trouble.

Como, which is based on the shores of the eponymous lake in northern Italy, has made rapid progress since Indonesian tobacco billionaire brothers Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono purchased the club in 2019, when it was in Serie D.

The Champions League could prove to be enough to keep Fabregas at Como, with bigger clubs across Europe reportedly interested in the 39-year-old coach following his impressive early success in a senior managerial position.

Antonio Conte’s last match in charge of Napoli was a 1-0 win over Udinese that saw his team finish second in Serie A. It was already guaranteed Champions League soccer along with league champion Inter Milan.

Conte confirmed after the final whistle that he was leaving Napoli.

Lecce beat Genoa 1-0 to secure Serie A safety.

The result saw Lecce move four points above 18th-place Cremonese, which will join Verona and Pisa in the second division next season.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, left, reacts with his teammates Strahinja Pavlovic, center, and Zachary Athekame at the end of the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Cagliari, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

AC Milan's Christopher Nkunku, right, reacts with his teammates after Cagliari's Juan Rodriguez scored his side's second goal during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Cagliari, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Como's Jesús Rodríguez Caraballo celebrates scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Cremonese and Como in Cremona Italy, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Alberto Mariani/LaPresse via AP)

AC Milan's Christian Pulisic reacts at the end of the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Cagliari, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Cremonese's head coach Davide Nicola and Como's head coach Cesc Fabregas, right, greet each other ahead of the Serie A soccer match between Cremonese and Como in Cremona Italy, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Alberto Mariani/LaPresse via AP)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rafael Devers hit San Francisco's third grand slam in a seven-day span, a tiebreaking, fifth-inning drive that led the Giants over the Chicago White Sox 8-5 on Sunday.

With the score 4-4, Devers hit a first-pitch fastball from Grant Taylor to the opposite field in left-center for his eighth career slam, his first for the Giants. Harrison Bader hit slams against the Athletics on Monday and vs. the White Sox on Saturday.

Casey Schmitt homered for the second time in two days and had three RBIs as the Giants won their second straight after a 2-7 slide. They scored 18 runs in the final two games of the series, their best two-game stretch this season.

Keaton Winn (1-1) allowed Colton Montgomery's RBI groundout and Edgar Quero's run-scoring single as the White Sox tied the score 4-4 in the fifth. Caleb Kilian struck out the side in the ninth for his third save.

Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas homered for the White Sox, who lost consecutive games for the first time since three in a row from May 5-8. Chicago finished a 2-4 trip.

Giants starter Robbie Ray allowed four runs, two hits and a career-high seven walks in four innings.

White Sox starter Noah Schultz gave up six runs and six hits in four innings.

Giants: RHP Landen Roupp (5-4, 3.27) starts Monday against visiting Arizona and Merrill Kelly (4-3, 5.71).

White Sox: LHP Anthony Kay (3-1, 4.27) starts Monday against visiting Minnesota and RHP Zebby Matthews (1-1, 1.38).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami (5) walks back to the dugout after striking out during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

San Francisco Giants' Caleb Kilian, right, celebrates with Daniel Susac, left, after their team's victory over the Chicago White Sox in a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in San Francisco, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

San Francisco Giants' Rafael Devers watches his grand slam during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in San Francisco, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)