Juventus are champions of Italy for the first time since the Calciopoli scandal. They beat Cagliari 2-0 in Trieste with a Vucinic strike and an own-goal by Canini to get the party started a week before the end of the season. It is Juventus’s 28th league title, (30th according to some of their fans who still count the two Scudettos struck off for the Caciopoli scandal).
Juve are unbeaten in the league this season and with one more league game to go plus the Coppa Italia final, they have a chance at a record-breaking season. Juve currently have 81 points from 37 games thanks to a record which reads 22 wins, 15 draws and no losses. If Juventus get at least a point against Atalanta on Sunday in Turin, the club would join Perugia and AC Milan as the only teams in Serie A to have gone undefeated in a given season.
Juventus win took them four points clear of AC Milan, who lost 4-2 against Inter Milan in the Derby della Madonnina. It was Inter’s second Derby della Madonnina win this season. Diego Milito struck first for Inter, and although Zlatan Ibrahimović’s double either side of half-time put Milan ahead, Milito completed his hat-trick before Maicon compounded Milan’s misery with a stunning fourth.
It was a strange day for Juve fans who were cheering on bitter rivals Inter to beat Milan, which they did. As news filtered in from Milan, jubilant celebrations ensued as Juventus re-established themselves as Italy’s top club once again.
“It’s a fantastic feeling, a great joy after a wonderful year and an extraordinary season,” said Juve manager Antonio Conte. “The lads fully deserved this Scudetto and so do our great fans. The achievement is even bigger because we defeated a great side like Milan in the run towards the Scudetto. We have not lost in 37 games and we hope to finish the season undefeated because it will be something historical.”
As players and staff celebrated winning the league on Sunday, it was clear that the scars from the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal in 2006 that saw Juventus relegated have not healed. Juventus director Giuseppe Marotta was quoted after the game as saying:
“It’s our 30th title as far as we’re concerned, and the reward of all the work done by everyone at the club, starting from [club president] Andrea Agnelli,” Marotta said.
