Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has taken a swipe at Atalanta - insisting they don't deserve access to the Champions League.

La Dea are in the competition's final 16 and sit fourth on the Serie A table this season.

“I have great respect for everything that Atalanta are doing, but without international history and thanks to just one great season, they had direct access into the primary European club competition. Is that right or not?" said Agnelli.

“Then I think of Roma, who contributed in recent years to maintaining Italy's ranking. They had one bad season and are out, with all the consequent damage to them financially.

“We must also protect investment and costs. So would Atalanta therefore have less chance of playing at a high level? I don't have the answer to that, it's just about setting up a transparent process to make this decision.

“There are teams who won the league or cup and achieve qualification just on the basis of their country's ranking. The point is how we balance the contribution to European football and the performance of a single year."