Catania gifts title to Juve

Juventus mathematically sealed a third straight Serie A title on Sunday despite not playing until Monday after their closest challengers, Roma, were thrashed 4-1 away at Catania.

Roma's defeat left Juventus eight points ahead with just two rounds of fixtures left, rendering Antonio Conte's side's result in tomorrow's meeting with Atalanta irrelevant.

Conte has now won the league in each of his three years in the dugout, while for Juventus the triumph represents a 30th official title, although the club continue to insist that the real figure is 32. This is because they maintain they were unfairly stripped of two titles following the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

Juventus are enjoying one of the best league seasons in their history. The Old Lady currently sit on 93 points and, with three games still to play (including the Atalanta match), could still break through the 100-point barrier. The current all-time Serie A record belongs to Roberto Mancini's Inter, who racked up 97 points on their way to lifting the 2005-06 title, but Conte's men look well on course to match and eclipse that tally.

The Turin outfit are the top scorers in the division, with 75 goals, and boast the meanest defence, having conceded just 23 times. The runaway champions also equalled the club's record of 12 consecutive league wins earlier in the campaign and have surpassed their previous highest number of victories in a single Serie A season (29).


/Marca/