Old story for Old Lady as Juventus claim title
Italy’s most successful club wins its 31st title, the fourth in a row, by defeating Sampdoria
Juventus players throw coach Massimiliano Allegri into the air after their 1-0 win over Sampdoria awarded them their fourth title in a row. PHOTO: AFP
MILAN:
Juventus were crowned champions of Italy thanks to a Arturo Vidal header in the first half that gave them a 1-0 win against Sampdoria. The win put the Old Lady a whopping 17 points ahead of Lazio, who can only claim 15 points from their remaining five matches.
The general view in Italy suggests Juventus are simply too strong for a Serie A league still gripped by an economic crisis which is restricting the spending power of potential rivals.
It may have come with less panache than last year, when they enjoyed an unbeaten Serie A campaign under ex-coach Antonio Conte resulting in a third consecutive title with a record 102 points.
But his successor Massimiliano Allegri was prepared to make small sacrifices on the domestic to improve their Champions League record. Despite that, Juventus have suffered only two league defeats so far.
Club chairman Andrea Agnelli was delighted with their Champions League progress but said it was no more than what was expected. “A team like Juventus has to be challenging on all fronts in the spring time,” said Agnelli.
In spite of Roma coach Rudi Garcia confidently predicting his side would end their 14-year title drought, Juventus started this season as firm favourites to defend their title.
After winning their opening six games, dropping their first points in a 1-1 away draw at Sassuolo, Juventus suffered the first of their two defeats to Genoa on October 29.
By then, they had already inflicted a serious blow to Garcia’s hopes of dethroning them — dominating and ultimately winning a tense match with Roma 3-2, thanks to a controversial late winner by Leonardo Bonucci.
Match referee Gianluca Rocchi, who had awarded three dubious penalties in the first half alone, was accused of bowing to Juventus pressure. The shadow of corruption, which saw Juventus stripped of the titles they won in 2005 and 2006 following their involvement in the ‘Calciopioli’ match-fixing scandal, resurfaced but Allegri’s men weathered the storm.
Despite Roma’s solid first half, their season began to unravel only two games into 2015 when a series of injuries and a loss of form saw them held to eight draws in nine games.
By the time Roma got reacquainted with victory, winning 1-0 away to Cesena at the end of March, Juventus had opened up a 14-point lead.
Roma welcomed Juve to the Stadio Olimpico on March 2 hoping to salvage something from their campaign, but after a 1-1 draw Garcia finally admitted his early season optimism about beating Juve to the title had been misplaced.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2015.
Juventus were crowned champions of Italy thanks to a Arturo Vidal header in the first half that gave them a 1-0 win against Sampdoria. The win put the Old Lady a whopping 17 points ahead of Lazio, who can only claim 15 points from their remaining five matches.
The general view in Italy suggests Juventus are simply too strong for a Serie A league still gripped by an economic crisis which is restricting the spending power of potential rivals.
It may have come with less panache than last year, when they enjoyed an unbeaten Serie A campaign under ex-coach Antonio Conte resulting in a third consecutive title with a record 102 points.
But his successor Massimiliano Allegri was prepared to make small sacrifices on the domestic to improve their Champions League record. Despite that, Juventus have suffered only two league defeats so far.
Club chairman Andrea Agnelli was delighted with their Champions League progress but said it was no more than what was expected. “A team like Juventus has to be challenging on all fronts in the spring time,” said Agnelli.
In spite of Roma coach Rudi Garcia confidently predicting his side would end their 14-year title drought, Juventus started this season as firm favourites to defend their title.
After winning their opening six games, dropping their first points in a 1-1 away draw at Sassuolo, Juventus suffered the first of their two defeats to Genoa on October 29.
By then, they had already inflicted a serious blow to Garcia’s hopes of dethroning them — dominating and ultimately winning a tense match with Roma 3-2, thanks to a controversial late winner by Leonardo Bonucci.
Match referee Gianluca Rocchi, who had awarded three dubious penalties in the first half alone, was accused of bowing to Juventus pressure. The shadow of corruption, which saw Juventus stripped of the titles they won in 2005 and 2006 following their involvement in the ‘Calciopioli’ match-fixing scandal, resurfaced but Allegri’s men weathered the storm.
Despite Roma’s solid first half, their season began to unravel only two games into 2015 when a series of injuries and a loss of form saw them held to eight draws in nine games.
By the time Roma got reacquainted with victory, winning 1-0 away to Cesena at the end of March, Juventus had opened up a 14-point lead.
Roma welcomed Juve to the Stadio Olimpico on March 2 hoping to salvage something from their campaign, but after a 1-1 draw Garcia finally admitted his early season optimism about beating Juve to the title had been misplaced.
“I did it to combat an overriding sense of pessimism,” said the Frenchman. “They weren’t the declarations of a fool who doesn’t think about the consequences. To maintain motivation and ambition, maybe that’s what you need to do.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2015.