Juventus aim for record sixth straight title
Friday August 19 2016
Having signed Gonzalo Higuain in the most expensive transfer in Italian football history, it seems a foregone conclusion that Juventus will win a record sixth consecutive Serie A title.
With the Milan clubs still forming new identities amid ownership — and coaching — changes, Juventus are chasing history.
Since Serie A was founded in 1929, no club have 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 before their current streak.
“We’ve done so much as a team but there is still much more to achieve,” Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon said ahead of his team’s season-opener at home to Fiorentina on Saturday. “This club teaches you to never rest on your laurels. There are plenty of lessons to be learned from last season so we can avoid making the same mistakes again.”
Last season, Juventus won just one of their opening six matches before surging up the table as they overcame the departures of Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal.
While there have also been key departures this offseason — Paul Pogba returning to Manchester United and Alvaro Morata back to Real Madrid — they have been overshadowed by the arrivals of Higuain and several other top players.
Higuain transferred from rival Napoli for 90 million euros ($99 million) after scoring 36 goals last season to break a 66-year-old Serie A record for goals in a single season.
Other signings include playmaker Miralem Pjanic from Roma, winger Dani Alves from Barcelona and defender Medhi Benatia from Bayern Munich.
“These are guys that are used to shining on the big stage and carrying themselves in a way befitting of top players,” Buffon said. “The important thing in the coming weeks is that we gel together as a group and bed in the new boys as quickly as possible. We can only confirm the notion that we are favourites by demonstrating it on the pitch.”
