Lecce, Cesena promoted to Serie A

Lecce and Cesena were promoted to Serie A on Sunday after climbing out of the troubled second tier of Italian football on the final day of the regular season.

Southern club Lecce drew 0-0 with Sassuolo to wrap up the Serie B championship and make an immediate return to the top flight having finished bottom of Serie A last term.

Cesena, who have not been in the top division since 1991, beat Piacenza 1-0 away to finish second and seal their second successive promotion.

Brescia had to settle for third after a 2-1 defeat at Padova and will now enter a four-team playoff with Sassuolo, Torino and Cittadella to determine the third and final promotion spot.

Serie B is splitting from Serie A and will now have to go it alone to find sponsorship and television money, raising fears for the future of some of the already-impoverished second-tier clubs.

Atalanta, Siena and Livorno were relegated from Serie A earlier this month.