Juventus seal record sixth straight Serie A title ahead of Champions League final against Real Madrid

No club had previously won more than five straight titles before Juve's triumph

Sunday 21 May 2017 21:28 BST
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Juventus easily beat Crotone 3-0 to win the title
Juventus easily beat Crotone 3-0 to win the title (Getty)

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Juventus clinched a record sixth straight Serie A title with a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Crotone in the penultimate round on Sunday.

Mario Mandzukic gave Juventus the lead 12 minutes in by redirecting a cross from Juan Cuadrado, Paulo Dybala scored with a precise free kick shortly before the break and Alex Sandro added another with a header near the end.

Juventus moved four points clear of second-placed Roma, which last Sunday handed the Bianconeri their first Serie A loss since January.

Since Serie A was founded in 1929, no club had previously won more than five straight titles.

Torino won five consecutive titles from 1943-49 (including a season that was canceled due to World War II), Inter Milan took five straight from 2006-10 and Juventus claimed a handful from 1931-35.

"We've written one of the greatest pages in the book of football history," said Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon, who also won the 2002 and 2003 Serie A titles with Juventus.

Mario Mandzukic gave Juventus the lead
Mario Mandzukic gave Juventus the lead (Getty)

"Winning is never easy," Buffon added. "Beyond what people say, staying at the top is synonymous with sacrifice on everyone's part. ... If you want to always win matches, you've got to always have your head in focus and your legs prepared."

It's the second title in five days for Juventus after a 2-0 win over Lazio in the Italian Cup final on Wednesday.

Buffon kisses the Serie A trophy
Buffon kisses the Serie A trophy (Getty)

The Bianconeri has a chance to complete the treble with a victory over Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League final on June 3.

Juventus also added to its record number of Serie A titles, with its 33rd.

Players dumped shaving cream over the head of manager Massimiliano Allegri at the final whistle, then put on celebratory T-shirts with a '6' on them.

Allegri wouldn't confirm that he will be staying at Juventus
Allegri wouldn't confirm that he will be staying at Juventus (Getty)

"First of all, I've got to complement the players who have won six straight titles. They're the ones going down in history," said Allegri, who replaced Antonio Conte in 2014.

Allegri, who has aspirations of following Conte to the English Premier League, wouldn't confirm that he'll remain with Juventus.

"It depends on both of us," Allegri said when told that club director Giuseppe Marotta inferred his future is up to the coach. "I'm very happy at Juventus. But now we've got to focus on playing, and possibly winning, the (Champions League) final in Cardiff."

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