Sampdoria 2-2 Parma

Plucky Parma salvaged a point from their last game in Serie A, an exciting 2-2 draw at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris which saw Sampdoria cling onto the final Europa League place.

The bankrupt club have been doomed for months but relegation has removed the shackles and seventh-placed Samp could not open the scoring through Alessandro Romagnoli until after the break.

Raffaele Palladino grabbed Parma's penultimate goal in the top division and, after Lorenzo De Silvestri re-established Samp's lead, Silvestre Varela plundered a confidence-boosting late leveller.

After a cagey opening Samuel Eto'o produced the first flash of danger with a left-footed drive that sent Antonio Mirante flying across his goalmouth.

Parma would dominate the rest of the half, though, with Antonio Nocerino playing the protagonist.

The on-loan AC Milan midfielder narrowly missed the mark from 30 metres out and should have opened the scoring when putting his head to Massimo Gobbi's cross on the half-hour mark.

Emiliano Viviano was then forced to make a miracle save against Nocerino, scooping the ball off the line after the 15-time Italy international tried his luck with another header.

Parma kept pushing and Jose Mauri clattered the crossbar before Samp could contain the tricky teenager.

With half-time approaching the hosts enjoyed a double chance to take a lead into the break.

First, Alfred Duncan failed to convert from an excellent position when put through by Eto'o and, two minutes into stoppage time, Mirante made a fine save to deny Luis Muriel a headed goal.

Samp returned to the pitch determined to make their spell of pressure count for something and they succeeded.

Four minutes after the restart, Romagnoli was in the right place to convert Duncan's pass, putting the Blucerchiati back in pole position to wrap up the final Europa League place.

Parma were approaching their final 15 minutes in the top flight and resolved to go out with a bang.

Palladino obliged by pegging Samp back with a sweetly struck goal that left Romagnoli spinning and Viviano rooted to the spot.

Conscious that eighth-placed Inter Milan were busy beating Empoli, the Ligurians steeled themselves in pursuit of a winner and thought they had found it when De Silvestri scored in the 79th minute.

The full-back promptly restored Samp's lead by converting Joaquin Correa's attempt, which had bounced off the crossbar before landing invitingly in the six-yard box.

It fell to Varela to ensure Parma's last memory of Serie A will be a happy one.

Two minutes from full-time, the Portuguese winger connected with the ball when it was poorly cleared by the Samp defence, and Viviano was left looking over his shoulder.

ends