TITLE NO. 29: Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (centre) holds the Scudetto, the Italian Serie A trophy, with teammates during a ceremony after the football match between Juventus and Cagliari, in Turin on Saturday. (AFP)
AFP/Turin
Juventus coach Antonio Conte has paid tribute to his “extraordinary” players after they lifted the league trophy on Saturday following a 1-1 draw with Cagliari.
Juve secured their 29th league title last week but had to wait until their final home game of the season to be presented with the Scudetto.
“The players are always the stars of the show. They’ve done extraordinary things, showing constant desire to fight and improve,” said Conte, who gave a special mention to Frenchman Paul Pogba after his summer move from Manchester United. “Pogba’s surprised me the most, today he’s a different player from the one that joined us in the summer.”
Juve’s draw against Cagliari means the Bianconeri now have no hope of beating the record 91-point tally set by Fabio Capello in 2006 when he was coach of the Serie A giants.
The best Juventus can finish on is 90 points, if they beat Sampdoria in Genoa in their final game of the season next week.
Captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, meanwhile, has calmed fans’ hopes of a triumphant Champions League campaign next season.
Last month Juve were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Bayern Munich, after which Conte hit out at the comparative lack of resources in Italy’s Serie A compared to the Bundesliga or English Premier League.
And Buffon believes the German side have set a standard that will be hard to match over the coming seasons.
“To do that, both ourselves and other European sides need to improve in order to catch up with Bayern Munich, who are currently two steps ahead of the rest,” said Buffon. “What’s more, if they win the Champions League, they’ll strengthen the team even further, so it will be a difficult task.”
Bayern, who ousted Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals, will meet Borussia Dortmund—who prevailed over Real Madrid in the last four—in an all-German Champions League final on May 25.