Juventus coach Antonio Conte expressed pride in his team’s achievement after they set a new Italian league record of 94 points in a calendar year with a 3-1 win over Cagliari on Friday.
Victory means Juventus have still dropped just eight points so far this season in their pursuit of a successful title defence and they are clear at the top of Serie A going into the Christmas break.
The three points means they now eclipse the haul of 93, also set by Juventus in 2005 under their former manager Fabio Capello.
Mauricio Pinilla put Cagliari ahead in the 16th minute from the penalty spot, but two goals from Alessandro Matri, after Arturo Vidal had missed a penalty, turned the game around for the Champions.
What made Matri’s even more impressive was that he did not enter the game until the hour mark when he replaced Fabio Quagliarella on the hour but quickly made his mark scoring from close-range finish after Mirko Vučinić’s shot was parried.
He completed the champions turnaround in the 92nd minute when an attempted clearance ran into his path after deflecting off Vidal. Vučinić’s tap-in sealed the win for Juventus and Conte praised his team’s record, believing it encapsulated the approach which has brought them success this year.
He said on juventus.com:
“Today we showed all the competitiveness and ruthlessness that has allowed us to reach 94 points in 2012 which has seen us beat Fabio Capello’s record.
“I can only ask them to continue like this.
“It was a show of force, the last one of a winning 2012.
“Whoever plays us has to be fully competitive and alert…Cagliari were there all the way.”
This Juve team has not got the accolades that last season’s team received, and that is partly because this season Juve have looked anything but dominate against the best teams in Serie A.
In matches against the top seven sides Juventus have drawn 0-0 against Fiorentina and Lazio, lost to both Inter and AC Milan. The only top sides they have beaten are Roma 401 and Napoli 2-0. And it is that form that gives the other title challengers hope that in the second half of the season that they can craw back the gap to Juve.
