Juventus beat Atalanta, 3-1, on Sunday to complete an unbeaten Serie A season and also break AC Milan’s record of 42 consecutive matches without defeat.
It was also the perfectsend-off after 19 years with Juve for captain Alessandro Del Piero, who netted his team’s second goal. Youngster Luca Marronescored the opener and Andrea Barzagli converted a last-minute penalty as Juventus finished the season with 84 points, four in front of AC Milan.
The victory meant Juve took its unbeaten run in all competitions to 43 games, including the final match of last season, a record for an Italian team.
The club also produced thefirst unbeaten Serie A campaign since AC Milan in 1992, and the first since Italy moved from an 18 to a 20-team league. Perugia ran through the 1978-79 season, conducted with 16 teams, unbeaten in 30matches yet did not win the title.
“The aim was to remain unbeaten and to celebrate with our own fans,” said Coach Antonio Conte. “We managed thatand that had never happened in a 20-team league. This is a legendary season because in the future no one will ever be able to beat what we’ve done, only equal it. No one ever gave us anything andthat’s reason for great pride.”
Ah, but let us all wait until we learn more about the current match fixing issues in Italy. Maybe this season end result might not stand scrutiny? Yes the headlines now are mostly Serie B issues, to be sure. But that may be only because the leaders of Calcio Italiana may not think the public yet ready for another series of revelations like in year 2006. Juve Coach Antonio Conte will be called into court for his dealings in the previous seasons. It is probably not wise to place too much trust in any results in Italian football.