Juventus claimed an 8th Serie A title in a row last weekend and it was a fantastic spectacle at their stadium as Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to win league titles in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A. It was a beautiful moment and the players were genuinely thrilled.
However not to put a dampener on it Juventus had this title in the bag as far as the beginning of the year. Indeed they didn’t even lose a game in Serie A until March and the last few games the team have been letting some of their regular players such as Ronaldo sit out games in order to rest for the Champions League.
And there is that word, the white elephant that was in the stadium in name only- the Champions League. This was supposed to be the season that Juventus won it for the first time since 1996. Ronaldo had been bought specifically to put Juventus on another level, after all he had just won the competition with Real Madrid for three years in a row.
As it turned out Juventus were no match for a very well organised and utterly brilliant Ajax team, who just 12 months before were a shadow of the side we see now. Juventus who looked out of the competition when they faced Atletico Madrid in the quarter finals, losing the first leg 2-0 and winning the 2nd 3-0 reached the semi-finals but could go no further this season.
The joy of winning a title should be celebrated and Juventus have had to work very hard for it, but anyone can see that there was really no challenge. Right now as the league stands Juventus have a 20 point lead over 2nd placed Napoli a 31 point lead over 4th position of AC Milan and a whopping 73 point lead over bottom team Chievo. However just to note Chievo were deducted 3 points by the Italian Football Federation- what’s a Serie A season without some docking of points?
But that’s the thing, Juventus have been so utterly dominant that this league title doesn’t feel as good or special for example as the title they won in 2012, one that came after the betting scandals of the 2000s saw the team relegated to Serie B. The 2012 league title win felt like a statement, that Juve were back and roaring back at that. This title felt a little hoarse and just par for the course now in Serie A.
That non Champions League trophy is sticking out like a sore thumb. Next season Juventus will go for it again but it may just end up being another player, a new transfer perhaps that helps deliver the title one day to a waiting Juventus as Ronaldo gets a year older, as he chases his sixth title which would equal Francesco Gento’s record for Real Madrid. We will wait and see.
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