Juventus have been crowned Serie A champions for a ninth straight season after defeating Sampdoria on Sunday evening, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting once again.
Serie A
Result: Juventus 2-0 Sampdoria
Date: 26 July 2020
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Click through the gallery to see action from Juventus securing the win to secure the league title.
Bianconeri manager Maurizio Sarri made four changes to the side that lost to Udinese, as Leonardo Bonucci, Miralem Pjanic, Blaise Matuidi and Juan Cuadrado were all recalled.
The Old Lady got off to a slow start, with Sampdoria threatening in the early stages but Ronaldo came the closest to opening the scoring for the hosts in the 20th minute with a header inside the box that was kept out by the leg of goalkeeper Emil Audero.
The game was struggling for momentum, with the sides cancelling each other out and on the half-hour mark Sarri was forced to make a change, as Danilo went down injured after a clash of heads and he was replaced by Federico Bernardeschi.
Claudio Ranieri's charges had a glorious chance to go ahead seven minutes before the break after Fabio Quagliarella received a cut-back unmarked inside the box but he fired his shot straight at shot-stopper Wojciech Szczesny.
Juventus came close to breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half-time after Bernardeschi went through on goal inside the box but his first-time volley towards the crossbar was saved by Audero.
Bianconeri finally got the breakthrough late in first-half added time as Pjanic caught the Sampdoria defence off guard with a quick short free-kick on the edge of the box towards Ronaldo, who drilled a first-time strike into the bottom corner.
After a slow start to the second half, the hosts upped their game towards the hour-mark and eventually doubled their lead in the 67th minute after Bernardeschi slammed home from close on a rebound after Audero parried Ronaldo's shot into his path.
Sampdoria had a brilliant chance to pull a goal back with 18 minutes remaining after Quagliarella won a header near the penalty area and powered a decent effort that was incredibly saved by Szczesny.
The visitors' chances of coming back into the game diminished in the last 13 minutes, as they were reduced to ten men after Morten Thorsby received a second yellow card for a lunging tackle on Pjanic.
Juventus were awarded a penalty in the last minute after Alex Sandro was brought down inside the box by Fabio Depaoli. Ronaldo stepped up to take the spot-kick but he failed to convert as his shot hit the crossbar.
Maya Yoshida made a goal-line clearance to deny Gonzalo Higuain the third goal in second-half stoppage time, but Sarri's men had done enough in the end to secure a 2-0 win that clinched a ninth straight title with two games to spare.
