Five key games in Juventus’s title win

Rome (AFP) – Juventus on Sunday claimed a seventh straight Serie A title, the 34th in their history, after a goalless draw against ten-man Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

For the fourth season in a row the Turin giants took the league and Cup double, days after beating AC Milan 4-0 in the Italian Cup in Rome.

AFP Sport looks at five key Juventus games in the 2017/18 season:

Napoli 0 Juventus 1

(Serie A, matchday 15, December 1 2017)

Gonzalo Higuain shrugged off a broken hand to inflict a first Serie A defeat of the season on his former club Napoli, as Juventus moved a point behind Maurizio Sarri’s leaders.

Argentine Higuain’s appearance at his former stomping ground, the San Paolo Stadium, was greeted with jeers by the home crowd.

But undeterred the 29-year-old, who left Napoli in 2016 for Turin in a 90 million-euro ($106 million) deal, scored the only goal after 12 minutes for his fifth goal in two seasons against his former club.

“Higuain is a phenomenon in these situations,” said Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri. “They have 90 million less, but three points more.”

Juventus 7 Sassuolo 0

(Serie A, matchday 23, February 4 2018)

Higuain was again a key player when his hat-trick helped Juventus thrash Sassuolo to serve notice to Napoli. 

Higuain’s first treble for the club saw them again move a point behind Napoli. 

Gianluigi Buffon made his first league appearance since December after an injury layoff and the 40-year-old could hardly have asked for a more comfortable clean sheet, his side’s sixth straight in all competitions.

Real Madrid 1 Juventus 3

(Champions League, quarter-final, second leg, April 11 2018)

Sparks flew in Juventus’s dramatic Champions League game against Real Madrid in the Santiago Barnabeu Stadium which reinvigorated the Turin side’s determination in Serie A.

Captain Gianluigi Buffon was sent-off for his furious reaction to a last-minute penalty which dumped Juventus out of the competition on aggregate despite a win on the night.

“Now we have to be furious in Italy, to bring home the seventh Scudetto and the fourth Italian Cup in a row,” warned coach Massimiliano Allegri.

Inter Milan 2 Juventus 3

(Serie A, matchday 35, April 28 2018)

Juventus’s six-year reign in Italy had looked seriously threatened when Napoli snatched a dramatic 1-0 win in Turin thanks to a late Kalidou Koulibaly goal. But the following week Juventus battled past 10-man Inter Milan with two late goals in the final three minutes giving the champions a 3-2 win in the San Siro to reopen a four-point lead at the top of the table, with Napoli losing 3-0 at Fiorentina later that night. 

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