With their win over Cagliari on the final weekend of Serie A, Juventus have made history.
Well, Juventus already made history last weekend, when they beat Roma 1-0. Those three points took them to 99, surpassing the previous record held by Inter Milan. But this weekend’s win makes Juve the first team in Serie A to reach the 100-point mark, an impressive achievement.
The Old Lady were perfect at home throughout the season (the only team in Europe to hold that honor), losing just twice overall to finish out the year at 102 points. The tally sets records beyond Italy, with Juve setting the mark for all of Europe’s top-ten leagues.
Cagliari had nothing to play for, making it all that much easier for Juventus to run out 3-0 winners. The scoring began with a lovely goal from Andrea Pirlo - from a free kick, of course - in the eighth minute. By the 15th, Fernando Llorente’s tap-in had the hosts up 2-0. And it was all over by the 40th minute, when Claudio Marchisio scored the third.
Of course, Juventus took the Serie A title as well, ultimately finishing 17 points above Roma. That puts them at three consecutive scudetti, and takes their title holdings to thirty, with two titles having been stripped by the calciopoli affair nearly a decade ago.
With Juventus thoroughly dominating the league, they will use the summer to further strengthen their squad, in an attempt to progress further in the Champions League, where they crashed out of the group stage this season, despite facing rather weak opposition. The bianconeri will do their best to hold on to manager Antonio Conte, as well as Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal. They’re rumored to have already secured Patrice Evra from Manchester United, and are in hot pursuit of Barcelona’s Alexis Sánchez.