Grand Old Lady Returns to Italian Football’s Summit
Turin was awash with black and white jerseys last night as fans of Juventus celebrated the team’s first Serie A title in nine years.
AC Milan’s 4-2 defeat to city rivals Inter gave Juve a chance at their 28th league title with a victory over Cagliari. The Turin-based side won 2-0 thanks to a first half strike from forward Mirko Vucinic and own goal from Michele Canini.
Victory left Juventus four points clear of Milan with one game remaining, and also gives them an opportunity to make history by winning their final game of the campaign. The club have gone 41 games unbeaten, and can emulate the AC Milan side of 1992 who were the last team to remain undefeated throughout the entire season.
The high of winning the league comes in direct contrast to the low of 2006 when Juventus were relegated for their part in the match-fixing scandal, which rocked top flight Italian football. As a result of overall investigation by police, Juventus were stripped of their league titles in 2005 and 2006 as well as being relegated to Serie B.
Demotion at the height of their 2000’s success cost Juventus top names like Lilian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro and Zlatan Ibrahimovic who all chose to leave the club. Thankfully Juve’s rebuild was assisted by the likes of Buffon, Del Piero and Nedved who decided to stay and to help the rebuilding process several youngsters from Primavera were promoted into the first team.
In their first season back in Serie A, Juventus finished third and qualified for the Champions League, but in the five years since then, the Vecchia Signora have not managed to claim a title. That was until the appointment of former player and fan favourite Antonio Conte who guided his team to the league’s best defensive record and lifted Juve back to the summit of Italian football.
2011-12 has been a huge season for Juventus; Not only did the black and whites claim the Italian Championship, theyalso moved into a new stadium situated at the heart of Turin. Several of Juve’s players including goalkeeper Buffon, and departing captain Del Piero may be in the twilight of their careers, but lifting the trophy next weekend for both will rank amongst the best moments in their careers.
Here’s now the title was won….
The Season’s Biggest Moments
- Fiorentina 0 – 5 Juventus – In the league’s biggest away win of the season; Juventus broke a streak of five consecutive draws in fantastic style by destroying Fiorentina in Florence. Montenegrin international Mirko Vucinic starred by scoring one and assisting two giving Juventus a three point lead over AC Milan. This victory sparked them on a run of eight consecutive wins in Serie A.
- Juventus 1 – 0 Milan - Two giants of the Italian league met in round six of the Serie A season as Milan travelled to Turin for their first visit to the Juventus arena. The away side had most of the play in the first period, but two late goals from Marchisio gave Conte’s men gave Juventus a three point cushion at the top of the league.
- Inter 1 – 2 Juventus – A trip to the San Siro in October tested Juventus’ title ambitions to the full. They took the lead through Vucinic but were pegged back midway through the first half by a goal from fullback Maicon. Despite dominating possession for much of the game Juventus found it difficult to break down Inter’s defensive unit. They managed to re-take the lead through Marchisio and held on throughout the second half to claim three vital points.
- Cagliari 0 – 2 Juventus – AC’s defeat in the Milan derby presented Juventus with a perfect opportunity to win their first league title since 2003. Facing a hostile crowd and a side battling against the drop at the opposite end of the table, Vuciniv gave his side the perfect start with a goal inside six minutes. Juventus were made to hold on until the last fifteen minutes when their pressure eventually told and they were handed a second goal by virtue of an own goal. Celebrations on the touchline demonstrated exactly how much that moment meant to the squad.
Juve’s Key Men
Alessandro Pirlo – The veteran midfielder, in his first season as a Juventus player, had a huge impact and steadying effect alongside Simone Pepe and Marchisio. The 32-year old started 36 out of 37 games this season and contributed double figures worth of assists.
Alessandro Matri – Relatively unheralded after joining from Cagliari in 2010, the 27-year old forward contributed ten goals to Juve’s cause this campaign. He netted the winning goal against Siena in a September victory and also two against Udinese in a 2-1 victory just after the New Year.
Leonardo Bonucci – Former Inter Milan youth player and current Italian international Bonucci played a key role in front of Buffon and alongside Giorgio Chiellini. The 25-year old started 27 matches for Juve this season scoring two goals, helping the team keep 21 clean sheets and concede only nineteen goals.
AC Milan’s 4-2 defeat to city rivals Inter gave Juve a chance at their 28th league title with a victory over Cagliari. The Turin-based side won 2-0 thanks to a first half strike from forward Mirko Vucinic and own goal from Michele Canini.
Victory left Juventus four points clear of Milan with one game remaining, and also gives them an opportunity to make history by winning their final game of the campaign. The club have gone 41 games unbeaten, and can emulate the AC Milan side of 1992 who were the last team to remain undefeated throughout the entire season.
The high of winning the league comes in direct contrast to the low of 2006 when Juventus were relegated for their part in the match-fixing scandal, which rocked top flight Italian football. As a result of overall investigation by police, Juventus were stripped of their league titles in 2005 and 2006 as well as being relegated to Serie B.
Demotion at the height of their 2000’s success cost Juventus top names like Lilian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro and Zlatan Ibrahimovic who all chose to leave the club. Thankfully Juve’s rebuild was assisted by the likes of Buffon, Del Piero and Nedved who decided to stay and to help the rebuilding process several youngsters from Primavera were promoted into the first team.
In their first season back in Serie A, Juventus finished third and qualified for the Champions League, but in the five years since then, the Vecchia Signora have not managed to claim a title. That was until the appointment of former player and fan favourite Antonio Conte who guided his team to the league’s best defensive record and lifted Juve back to the summit of Italian football.
2011-12 has been a huge season for Juventus; Not only did the black and whites claim the Italian Championship, theyalso moved into a new stadium situated at the heart of Turin. Several of Juve’s players including goalkeeper Buffon, and departing captain Del Piero may be in the twilight of their careers, but lifting the trophy next weekend for both will rank amongst the best moments in their careers.
Here’s now the title was won….
The Season’s Biggest Moments
- Fiorentina 0 – 5 Juventus – In the league’s biggest away win of the season; Juventus broke a streak of five consecutive draws in fantastic style by destroying Fiorentina in Florence. Montenegrin international Mirko Vucinic starred by scoring one and assisting two giving Juventus a three point lead over AC Milan. This victory sparked them on a run of eight consecutive wins in Serie A.
- Juventus 1 – 0 Milan - Two giants of the Italian league met in round six of the Serie A season as Milan travelled to Turin for their first visit to the Juventus arena. The away side had most of the play in the first period, but two late goals from Marchisio gave Conte’s men gave Juventus a three point cushion at the top of the league.
- Inter 1 – 2 Juventus – A trip to the San Siro in October tested Juventus’ title ambitions to the full. They took the lead through Vucinic but were pegged back midway through the first half by a goal from fullback Maicon. Despite dominating possession for much of the game Juventus found it difficult to break down Inter’s defensive unit. They managed to re-take the lead through Marchisio and held on throughout the second half to claim three vital points.
- Cagliari 0 – 2 Juventus – AC’s defeat in the Milan derby presented Juventus with a perfect opportunity to win their first league title since 2003. Facing a hostile crowd and a side battling against the drop at the opposite end of the table, Vuciniv gave his side the perfect start with a goal inside six minutes. Juventus were made to hold on until the last fifteen minutes when their pressure eventually told and they were handed a second goal by virtue of an own goal. Celebrations on the touchline demonstrated exactly how much that moment meant to the squad.
Juve’s Key Men
Alessandro Pirlo – The veteran midfielder, in his first season as a Juventus player, had a huge impact and steadying effect alongside Simone Pepe and Marchisio. The 32-year old started 36 out of 37 games this season and contributed double figures worth of assists.
Alessandro Matri – Relatively unheralded after joining from Cagliari in 2010, the 27-year old forward contributed ten goals to Juve’s cause this campaign. He netted the winning goal against Siena in a September victory and also two against Udinese in a 2-1 victory just after the New Year.
Leonardo Bonucci – Former Inter Milan youth player and current Italian international Bonucci played a key role in front of Buffon and alongside Giorgio Chiellini. The 25-year old started 27 matches for Juve this season scoring two goals, helping the team keep 21 clean sheets and concede only nineteen goals.