Chievo Verona, one of the best small clubs in recent European history, was relegated from Italy's Serie A on Sunday, the final day of the season, after a 2-0 loss to Catania and Siena's 2-1 win over Lazio.

Five sides were battling to avoid the final relegation spot on the last day, but Chievo was the only team that failed to win and was thus condemned to the drop.

Fausto Rossini and Mauro Minelli saved Catania, which had been forced to play home games away from its stadium since a policeman died in riots there in February.

Siena was five minutes from going down when Paolo Negro tapped in their winner. Parma (3-1 winner over Empoli) and Reggina (2-0 winner over a depleted AC Milan) also survived.

Chievo started the season in the Champions League qualifiers, having finished fourth last season. The Flying Donkeys were founded in 1929 but never made it to Serie A until the 2001-02 season.

TOTTI ON TOP. Roma's Francesco Totti finished as the top scorer in Serie A with 26 goals. In an unprecedented display of domestic firepower, eight of the nine top scorers were Italians. Only Romanian Adrian Mutu, tied for seventh with 16 goals, figured among the top scorers.

FINAL STANDINGS:
1 Inter Milan 97
2 Roma  75
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3 Lazio  62
4 AC Milan 61
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5 Palermo 58
6 Fiorentina 58
7 Empoli  54
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8 Atalanta 50
9 Sampdoria 49
10 Udinese 46
11 Livorno 43
12 Parma 42
13 Catania 41
14 Reggina 40
15 Siena 40
16 Torino 40
17 Cagliari 40
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18 Chievo Verona 39
19 Ascoli 27
20 Messina 26
Note:
Fiorentina deducted 15 points.
Reggina deducted 11 points.
AC Milan deducted 8 points.
Lazio deducted 3 points.
Siena deducted 1 point.
 
Placements:
1-2: Champions League group stage
3-4: Champions League preliminary round
(AC Milan moves into group stage as defending Champions League champion)
5-7: UEFA Cup
18-20: Relegation

LEADING SCORERS:
26 Francesco Totti (Roma)          
20 Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno)      
19 Christian Rigano (Messina)         
18 Rolando Bianchi (Reggina)          
17 Gionatha Spinesi (Catania)         
17 Nicola Amoruso (Reggina)           
16 Luca Toni (Fiorentina)             
16 Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina)           
16 Tommaso Rocchi (Lazio)             
15 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan)   
14 Hernan Crespo (Inter Milan)        
14 Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese)        
14 David Suazo (Cagliari)             
14 Luca Saudati (Empoli