Juventus are champions, but Serie B is lurking
Juventus won their 29th Serie A title today, but celebrations were overshadowed by the recent match-fixing allegations, following which the club risks having both scudetti won in the last two years revoked and being relegated to Serie B (if not to a lower division).
While they may turn out not to be the only team to have manipulated matches in recent times (Fiorentina are thought to have benefited from Juventus’ refereeing connections to avoid relegation last year, Lazio and Milan are also being investigated) it is the fact that they have always represented the unassailable power, the untouchable, dominating force in Italian football that would make their relegation so special and such a historic event.
It’s hard to imagine a Serie A without Juventus: they’re the only team in Italy, together with Inter, to have always played in Serie A. At the same time, with increasing evidence against them emerging day by day, it’s even harder to see how they will escape their destiny in the the lower division(s).
If there is such thing as football justice in Italy, it’s only a matter of weeks until the announcement that next season Juventus will be playing against more modest teams the likes of Crotone, Rimini and Arezzo.
