Juve seal ninth straight Serie A title

ROME: Before the break for the pandemic. After the lockdown. And now for nine years running. Juventus are the undisputed leader of Italian football.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the go-ahead goal and Juventus beat Sampdoria 2-0 on Sunday to secure the Turin club’s recordextending ninth straight Serie A title. At the final whistle, Juventus players danced in celebration and embraced each other before the empty stands inside the Allianz Stadium. It was Juve’s first title under coach Maurizio Sarri, who brought in a completely new system.

“It was the most beautiful title, because it was the most difficult,” said defender Leonardo Bonucci, who has been wearing the captain’s armband with

Giorgio Chiellini injured. “We started a new era, a new philosophy, ran into so many difficulties, but we continued to give our all throughout, even when there were so many slip-ups. It was so complicated beyond the field, too; the world changed in three months. It was difficult to get our heads back into it. We suffered.”

Bonucci dedicated the title to Juventus fans who were victims of the virus. “It’s for those who left us and cheered for us from up above,” Bonucci said.

For his 31st goal in 32 matches, Ronaldo completed a set piece when Miralem Pjanic rolled across a free kick for the fivetime Ballon d’or winner to fire into the far top corner in firsthalf added time. Federico Bernardeschi then sealed it by tapping in a rebound of Ronaldo’s shot in the second half. Ronaldo banged a spot kick off the crossbar in the 89th. Still, Juventus moved an insurmountable seven points clear of Inter with two games left and can now switch its focus to the Champions League.

“Now we need to recuperate our energy and focus on Lyon,” Bonucci said.