Juventus has clinched their 9th Serie A title after defeating Sampdoria 2-0 at the Juventus Stadium.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for the Binaconerri from Miralem Pjanic’s short free-kick to score his 31st Serie A goal- three behind the current highest goalscorer, Ciro Immobile before Bernardeschi completed the job in the 67th minute.
- Maurizio Sarri is the oldest coach to win a Serie A title.
- This is the first league title of Sarri’s career.
- Juve is the only team to win nine consecutive titles in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
- Ronaldo has scored 10 goals since football returned in Italy on June 20, more than any other player in Europe.
- Ronaldo matches the record of Felice Borel, who was the last player to score 31 goals for Juventus in the 1933-34 season
Juventus Vs Sampdoria highlight
After suffering a 2-1 defeat at Udinese, Juventus missed the chance to claim the title. The manager, Maurizio Sarri described it as a “messy” .
Juve then began the Sampdoria game on Sunday with just one win in their last five games and they were far from their free-flowing best as well.
Despite going into the lead in the extra time of the first half, the hosts had to withstand plenty of pressure in the second half.
But Bernardeschi came to the team’s rescue to score from Ronaldo’s saved attempt and ensured former Chelsea manager Sarri won the first league title of his managerial career.
Sampdoria continued the pressure with the hope of staging a comeback, but that was dashed when they were reduced to 10-men following a second booking for Morten Thorsby.
Serie A title is for the fans – Ronaldo
In a related development, Ronaldo has dedicated Juve’s ninth successive Serie A title ‘to the fans’.
The nine consecutive titles see Juve to be the first in one of Europe’s top five leagues. This has extended their 8th straight consecutive win which Bayern Munich had matched in June.
Ronaldo would have scored his 32nd Serie A goal but struck a penalty against the crossbar in the final minutes.
With his 31st goals, the Portuguese has now matched former Italy World Cup winner Felice Borel, who was the last player to score 31 goals for Juventus in the 1933-34 season, with two games remaining.
He took to his Instagram page to pass the message to the fans.
“Delighted for the second consecutive championship and to continue building the history of this great and splendid club,.
“This title is dedicated to all Juventus fans, in particular to those who have suffered and are suffering from the pandemic that has taken us all by surprise by overturning the world.
“It was not easy. Your courage, your attitude, and your determination were the strength we needed to face this tight final of the championship and fight to the end for this title that belongs to all of Italy.”
Juventus breaks more records
Juventus has now joined two other European teams – Celtic in Scotland and Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria to be on a run of nine titles in a row.
The world record holder for consecutive league titles is believed to be Tafea, who won the Vanuatu league for 15 seasons in a row (1994 to 2009).
Also, Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps and the now-dissolved Skonto of Latvia have the European record with 14 in a row.
