Cremonese promoted via Spezia playoff, Milan crisis deepens as San Siro turns on Cardinale and Ibrahimović
Main stories
Cremonese sealed promotion back to Serie A on 1 June after a 3-2 second-leg win at Spezia, finishing the playoff tie 3-2 on aggregate following a goalless first leg. Manuel De Luca scored twice and Michele Collocolo added the third before Francesco Pio Esposito and Luca Vignali pulled goals back, ESPN reports. The grigiorossi join Serie B champions Sassuolo and runners-up Pisa, completing the 2026/27 top-flight field.
AC Milan have dismissed head coach Massimiliano Allegri, sporting director Igli Tare, CEO Giorgio Furlani and technical director Geoffrey Moncada after the side missed Champions League qualification on the final day. According to Tuttosport and football-italia, owner Gerry Cardinale and senior advisor Zlatan Ibrahimović remain in place — and have become the central targets of supporter protests at San Siro, with "Cardinale out" banners and chants directed at Ibrahimović, who was escorted out by security after the closing fixture against Cagliari.
Inter Milan finished the season as Serie A champions with 87 points but ended it heavily — a 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, described by ESPN as the most one-sided final in the competition's history. Cristian Chivu, in his first season as head coach after replacing Simone Inzaghi, will be rewarded with a contract extension according to reports cited by SempreInter. Chivu has publicly called the Club World Cup a chance to push past "disillusionment" from the Munich result.
Football-italia reports the death of former Bologna, Cagliari, Spal, Bari and Sampdoria defender Marios Oikonomou at the age of 33. Italian football has paused to mark the news, with several clubs offering tributes through their channels.
Transfer and squad notes
Luciano Spalletti has signed a new two-year contract with Juventus, according to football-italia. The deal locks in the former Italy national-team boss for the project Cristiano Giuntoli began this winter and follows a third-place Serie A finish.
Parma are set to exercise their €4m option to buy Benjamin Cremaschi outright from Inter Miami after the United States international's loan spell, per football-italia. The 21-year-old midfielder is on track to return to Italy permanently as Parma rebuild for a Serie A relegation fight under new ownership.
Lazio face competition from Tottenham Hotspur for Dinamo Zagreb defender Sergi Dominguez, while Nottingham Forest have lodged a €15m bid for Roma centre-back Jan Ziółkowski — a price the giallorossi reportedly consider short of their €20m valuation. Both items are reported by football-italia and remain unconfirmed at club level.
What it means for the league
Serie A heads into the World Cup break with Inter as champions but bruised, Milan in open civil war between owners and fans, and Juventus betting on continuity through Spalletti's extension. Cremonese, Sassuolo and Pisa restore three traditional names to the top flight in place of the relegated trio. The 2026/27 Serie A season will start in late August, after the World Cup final on 19 July.