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Juve clinch Serie A before Real clash

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May 11, 2003 17:12 IST

Juventus won the Italian title for the second year in a row on Saturday but while the fans celebrated, the Turin club quickly turned their attention to Wednesday's Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid.

A 2-2 draw at home to Perugia was enough to secure Juve's 27th title as second-placed Inter Milan, the only side with any chance of catching them also drew 1-1 at home to Parma, leaving them eight points adrift with two games remaining.

There was none of the drama of the last four Serie A campaigns, all of which have gone down to the wire, but that did not worry the Juve players who ran a lap of honour, enjoying the applause of the Turin crowd.

"It is a great feeling," said midfielder Alessio Tacchinardi, "Every title win is great and we believed in this one throughout
the season.

"The key to this success was that we were the most consistent team in the league this year. We have a lot of players who have won many trophies but they have shown they haven't become tired of winning," added the Italy international.

Inter have not tasted success in Serie A since 1989 but coach Hector Cuper was gracious as he finally closed the book on another failed attempt.

"Congratulations to Juventus. They deserved the 'scudetto' because they have been the most consistent side throughout the season," said the Argentine coach.

Juventus coach Marcello Lippi, who has now won five titles in his two spells at the club, dedicated the win to the club's former president Gianni Agnelli who died in January.

"I naturally dedicate this title to the late Gianni Agnelli and I hope to help him achieve his dream of winning 30 titles," said the Juve coach.

Agnelli, who as head of carmaker Fiat helped finance decades of success for his club, witnessed 25 of the 27 Juventus titles and his memory was recalled by club officials throughout the post-match festivities.

While that reflection on the past was typical of a club with a long and glorious history, the way in which Lippi and the team swiftly turned their thoughts to Wednesday's second-leg tie with Real showed that the season was far from over.

"Now we face Real. It would be fantastic to get through and play out the rest of the league season waiting to play in the
(Champions League) final," said Lippi.

Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved, who has been instrumental in Juve's latest title wins, echoed his coach's view.

"Now we want the Champions League. We have a huge match ahead of us against Real. We will celebrate the title now but our celebration will be restrained because I hope our season will not end until May 28 with the Champions League trophy," said the former Lazio player.

Juve trail 2-1 from last week's first leg in Madrid.

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