Lazio secured third place in Serie A and with it a place in next year's Champions League with a thrilling 4-2 win over Napoli at the San Paolo on Sunday night.
It was a superb game with six goals, two red cards and a missed penalty as Napoli missed the chance to leapfrog Lazio in Rafa Benitez's final game in charge of the hosts.
The game got off to a slow start with both sides looking a little nervy in the opening minutes.
The first opportunity fell to the visitors when Marco Parolo blocked a David Lopez shot from distance to start a Lazio counter attack. Antonio Candreva ran 50 yards in possession before trying to tee up Danilo Cataldi but the pass was dreadful and the opportunity was missed.
Minutes later Napoli had an opportunity when Gonzalo Higuain dispossessed Senad Lulic on the left before hitting what was a weak shot at Federico Marchetti. The goalkeeper spilled the shot towards Marek Hamsik but managed to recover the ball just ahead of the Slovakian.
Napoli had another chance on 22 minutes when Lazio could only clear a cross as far as Lopez at the edge of the box. The Spaniard took a touch before attempting to curl the ball into the top corner but his effort was off target.
The hosts had an even better chance minutes later when Hamsik and Higuain combined to put Jose Callejon one on one with Marchetti. Callejon tried to pass the ball into the bottom corner past the onrushing goalkeeper but it went inches wide of the right hand post and Callejon was left to rue what was a golden chance to put Napoli in pole position.
Lazio almost capitalised on a defensive error from Napoli after 31 minutes when Mariano Andujar came away out of the his area to clear a long through ball but he hit the ball straight at Filip Djordjevic. Fortunately for Andujar, Kalidou Koulibaly was able to get back to clear before Djordjevic could score into an empty goal.
The visitors did take the lead on 33 minutes and once again Andujar didn't cover himself in glory. Lazio worked the ball to Parolo just outside the box and the Italian hit a shot that took a deflection off Gokhan Inler but Andujar got a hand on it and really should have been able to keep it out.
The goal seemed to leave Napoli in a state of shock and things got worse just before half time when Candreva put Lazio 2-0 up. Koulibaly had the ball in defence for the hosts and tried to pass forward but it was intercepted by Lulic and he played a superb ball to Candreva that left the Italian one on one with Andujar. Candreva managed to keep his cool and slotted calmly into the bottom left corner to leave Napoli needing to score three goals in the second half to achieve Champions League qualification.
The second half started with Lazio on the front foot but it was Napoli who scored the first goal of the second half. Hamsik stole the ball from Parolo before releasing Callejon down the right who played the ball perfectly across the box to Higuain who tapped into the empty net to give Napoli a lifeline.
Remarkably it was almost level seconds after the restart when Callejon broke down the right before playing Dries Mertens in. The Belgian hit a low powerful shot that was destined for the bottom corner but Stefan de Vrij managed to get back to clear the ball off the line to keep Lazio ahead.
Napoli were really pressing the visitors now and had another great chance on 58 minutes. Hamsik played the ball across goal and Higuain dummied it which opened space for Callejon but he hit his shot straight at Marchetti and Lazio survived once again.
There was another swing of momentum towards Napoli on 62 minutes when Parolo received his second booking of the game for a foul on Lopez to leave Lazio a man down and under severe pressure.
It didn't take long for Napoli to equalise courtesy of Higuain again. Koulibaly took the ball off Felipe Anderson before passing to Mertens who easily beat Mauricio before passing to Higuain. The Argentine took two touches before firing past Marchetti from close range to level the scores.
Lazio finally got a bit of a break on 70 minutes with Napoli being reduced to ten men themselves when Faouzi Ghoulam was sent off when he received a second booking for a rash tackle on Cristian Ledesma.
The hosts were awarded a penalty on 75 minutes when Christian Maggio was brought down on the corner of the box by Lulic and the referee and his assistant decided that the offence had occurred inside the box. Higuain stepped up to take the kick but it was a poor effort and it went high and a long way over the cross bar.
Napoli continued to push forward in search of a goal but it was Lazio who went 3-2 up in the 85th minute. Miroslav Klose dispossessed Hamsik in midfield and Ledesma ran at the Napoli defence. Maggio tackled Ledesma but unfortunately for the hosts the ball went straight to Ogenyi Onazi who had just come on as a substitute and he calmly slotted past Andujar to put Lazio on the brink of Champions League football.
If that goal didn't kill off Napoli then they were definitely finished in stoppage time when Klose got Lazio's fourth goal to seal victory with a trademark header from a free kick.
That goal was the final action in what was a pulsating game as Lazio weathered a second half storm to secure qualification for the Champions League for the first time in eight years. Napoli will go into the Europa League but it will be a big summer for them with Benitez leaving and rumours suggesting some of their key players could also be on the way out.
For Lazio and Stefano Pioli the priority will be to keep their key players and build the squad for next season ahead of August's Champions League Playoff Round which will see them try to earn a place in the lucrative group stages.