Juventus earned the platonic Serie A winter crown on Sunday after trouncing mid-table side Atalanta 3-0 while nearest rivals Inter and Napoli both suffered defeats at the hands of Lazio and Bologna respectively.
The Bianconeri opened a seven-point lead over Inter but Lazio are on the rise as they are now third, just one point adrift of the Nerazzurri, and one ahead of the in-form Fiorentina who brushed aside Siena 4-1 on Sunday.
Against Atalanta, Juventus scored three goals inside the first 27 minutes to record their 13th win of the season.
So far, they have only dropped points in goalless draws against Fiorentina (away) and Lazio (home) and finished on the losing side against Inter (1-3) and Milan (0-1).
Although Juve seem to have a firm grip on top spot, coach Antonio Conte will be aware that his team has to maintain a high level of consistency to stave off their nearest pursuers’ challenge.
In their remaining two fixtures before the end of the first round, Juventus face seemingly weak opponents, starting with a trip to Cagliari on Saturday and a home fixture to the misfiring Sampdoria after the Christmas recess.
Failure to gain maximum points from their next two outings could see Juve’s rivals close the gap and re-open the title race.
Juventus have a tough round of fixtures in the title run-in.
The Serie A champions must play all their main rivals away from home, bar Fiorentina and Milan in the second round.
Juve have to play away at Napoli (27th day), Roma (25th day), Lazio (32nd day) and Inter (30th day).
However, given their current form and the healthy lead they are currently enjoying, Juventus are the odds-on favourites to defend their title.
Inter are not having an inspiring patch at the moment.
They have lost their last three away games in a row (vs Atalanta, Parma and Lazio) after having won all their first six games on the road.
Moreover, Andrea Stramaccioni’s side were far from their best in back-to-back home wins over Palermo and Napoli.
This season, Inter played their best game on the 11th day, when they came from a goal down to interrupt Juve’s 49-match unbeaten league run in Turin.
But, after that, Inter lost their rhythm and only managed two wins in six matches.
Such statistics are not the epitome of a side aspiring to make a quest for the championship.
Napoli, too, have experienced a dip lately and yesterday’s decision by the Italian football federation to dock the club two points for their part in illegal betting did not help matters either.
The unexpected 2-3 upset to modest Bologna at the San Paolo on Sunday was not the sort of result Napoli needed to stay in the hunt for a top-three finish.
With the campaign closing in on the halfway stage it’s still early to reach conclusions.
There will be many more twists and turns coming up but it seems Juventus have their destiny firmly in their own hands.
Serie A statistics
1POINT collected by bottom side Siena in their last four outings. On Sunday, Siena were beaten by Fiorentina 4-1 who returned to winning ways after a three-match winless run. Siena’s third defeat on the trot cost coach Serse Cosmi his job as on Monday he was replaced by former Brescia mentor Giuseppe Iachini. Another coach to lose his job on Monday was Ciro Ferrara. The former Italy U-21 coach got sacked by Sampdoria after a 3-1 upset away to Catania last weekend.
3 AWAY defeats in a row have hindered Inter’s chances of challenging for the league title in no small way as now they’re seven points behind Juventus. Inter’s latest executioners were Lazio who on Saturday extended their positive run to six games (four wins and two draws) after beating the Nerazzurri 1-0. Chievo interrupted Roma’s march of four successive wins with a 1-0 home win. They have now collected 10 points from the last available 12.
4 PENALTIES were taken last weekend. Enzo Maresca (Sampdoria), David Pizarro (Fiorentina) and Jaime Valdes (Parma) all scored from the spot but Fiorentina’s Alberto Aquilani hit his spot-kick wide. Of the 64 penalties taken so far, 41 were scored.
5TH winless game on the trot (two draws and three de-feats) for Torino. On Sunday, Gianpiero Ventura’s side settled for a 1-1 away draw with fellow strugglers Genoa. At the top half of the standings, Milan cruised to their fourth straight win courtesy of an emphatic 4-1 home success over strugglers Pescara. The upset was Pescara’s fifth in succession away from home.
33 GOALS were scored on the 17th day: 24 coming from the hosts and the other nine from the visitors, who managed only one win and two draws. Total number of goals scored so far is 465. Ishak Belfodil (Parma) and Luca Toni (Fiorentina) grabbed a brace each. Stephan El Shaarawy (Milan) is now on the 14-goal mark – two more than Napoli’s Edinson Cavani.