Juventus on Sunday clinched a record sixth straight Serie A title with a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Crotone in the penultimate round of matches.
Mario Mandzukic gave Juventus the lead 12 minutes in by redirecting a cross from Juan Cuadrado, Paulo Dybala scored with a precise free-kick shortly before the break and Alex Sandro added another with a header near the end.
Juventus moved four points clear of second-placed AS Roma, who the previous Sunday handed the Bianconeri their first Serie A loss since January.
Photo: Reuters
Since Serie A was founded in 1929, no club had previously won more than five straight titles.
Torino won five consecutive titles from 1942-1943 to 1948-1949 either side of a break due to World War II, Inter took five straight from 2005-2006 to 2009-2010 and Juventus claimed a handful from 1930-1931 to 1934-1935.
“We’ve written one of the greatest pages in the book of football history,” said Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon, who also won the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 Serie A titles with Juventus. “Winning is never easy. Beyond what people say, staying at the top is synonymous with sacrifice on everyone’s part ... If you want to always win matches, you’ve got to always have your head in focus and your legs prepared.”
It was the second title in five days for Juventus after a 2-0 win over SS Lazio in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday last week.
The Bianconeri have a chance to complete the treble with a victory over Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff on June 3.
Juventus also added to their record number of scudettos with their 33rd.
Players dumped shaving cream over the head of manager Massimiliano Allegri at the final whistle, then put on celebratory T-shirts with a “6” on them.
“First of all, I’ve got to complement the players who have won six straight titles. They’re the ones going down in history,” said Allegri, who replaced Antonio Conte in 2014.
Allegri, who has aspirations of following Conte to the English Premier League, would not confirm that he would remain with Juventus.
“It depends on both of us,” Allegri said when told that club director Giuseppe Marotta inferred his future is up to the coach. “I’m very happy at Juventus, but now we’ve got to focus on playing, and possibly winning, the final in Cardiff.”
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