Maurizio Sarri finally won his first league title as a manager, 30 years after starting his career, and he celebrated with a typically self deprecating joke to his Juventus players.
The Old Lady captured their ninth Serie A title in-a-row, under three different managers, when they beat Sampdoria 2-0 on Saturday. The win confirmed Sarri as a league champion for the first time, just a year after he won the first major trophy of his career with Chelsea.
Sarri isn't likely to be described as arrogant by an opposition manager, or anyone else, and he proved his humble nature after the match, telling the press what he said to his players after winning the title.
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"I told them, if you won with me who has never won anything, you must be really good," he joked with Sky Sports Italia.
Juve had been challenged this season more than some of their previous eight league title wins by both Lazio and Inter but both sides had fallen away, the former after the return to football and the latter before the Covid-19 break.
Atalanta's draw on Friday with AC Milan meant a win for the Turin side on Sunday would wrap up the title. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the seventh minute of first half injury time.
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From there the result was never in doubt and Federico Bernardeschi added a second in the 67th minute.
After the match Sarri celebrated in typical fashion by lighting up a cigarette in the changing room as he was attacked with foam by his players, before taking a few swigs of Champagne.
Speaking about winning the league the 61-year-old said, "It has a special feeling, of course. It's difficult to win, it becomes even more complicated to keep winning, as taking something for granted in sport is one of the biggest lies in the world.
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"It was not a walk in the park. It was long, difficult, stressful, and this squad deserves a lot of credit for continuing to find the hunger and determination to keep going after eight wins in a row.
"I left the field because I was trying to avoid getting a bucket of water thrown over me, as it was obviously on its way, but I didn't manage to get away."
It's been an incredible journey for Sarri to go from managing amateur clubs, working his way up the leagues, making Napoli into title contenders, moving to England and winning the Europa League and finally winning the title with Juventus.
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It's difficult not to be happy for him.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Maurizio Sarri, Lazio, Chelsea, Football, Europa League, Serie A, Italian Football, Juventus, Inter, Italy
