Inter Milan snatched the final Champions League berth with a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 win over direct European rivals Lazio on the final day of the season at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is determined to sign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain and will offer Toni Kroos and Gareth Bale as part of a swap deal.
A tearful Gianluigi Buffon said he was "sorry for all of Italian football" as he led a wave of international retirements after a World Cup play-off defeat by Sweden.
It was back in September that the president of the Italian Football Association had said that not qualifying for next year's FIFA World Cup would be "an apocalypse" for the four-time World Cup winners.