Juventus eye unbeaten season in Serie A

Italian giants Juventus claimed their first Serie A title since 2003 on Saturday.

However, the club’s Serie A campaign is still far from finished.

Juve will host Atalanta on the final day of the season, 13 May, with the Bianconeri one result away from an unbeaten, invincible season.

Now then, Atalanta are formidable opponents, but they have had their struggles away from home, winning just four Serie A matches away from the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in 2011-12.

To make matters worse for the Orobici, they lost the reverse fixture at home by a score of 2-0 on 21 January, 2012.

Unlikely goalscorers Stephan Lichtsteiner (54′) and Emanuele Giaccherini (82′) netted for Juve, while world-class goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon kept a clean-sheet for the would-be champions.

Betting Preview: Juventus v Atalanta

For obvious reasons, Juve are huge favorites to defeat Atalanta at Juventus Stadium in Turin on 13 May.

The champions are 1/4 to beat Atalanta at home and 4/1 to draw, while the visitors are 10/1 underdogs to win at Juventus Stadium.

Juventus’ Players of the Season

The final section of this segment will crown Juve’s players of the season. Let’s get started.

1. Gianluigi Buffon

Goalkeeper and vice-captain Gianluigi Buffon was on scintillating form for Juventus in 2011-12.

The Italy international recorded an eye-opening 21 clean sheets in 35 Serie A matches, while simultaneously adding 79 saves.

2. Andrea Pirlo

The former AC Milan midfield maestro tallied a league-leading 13 assists for the Serie A champions in 2011-12, his first season with the club.

The 32-year-old may be in the twilight of his career, but he can pick a pass.

3. Claudio Marchisio

Marchisio, another Italy international, bagged nine goals and four assists in 36 league appearances (35 starts) for Juve this season.

One goal every four games from a midfielder will certainly get the job done.

4. Arturo Vidal

Aside from leading the Serie A in the dreaded “player discipline” category with 14 points (12 yellow cards and 1 red card), Vidal managed to notch seven goals and four assists in 33 games for the champions.

The Chile international is a consistent boss in the midfield, and a nuisance in attack on his best day. As you can see from his goal/assist tally, he had a lot of “best days” in 2011-12.

5. Strikers

The Italian champions may not have a world-class striker, but they certainly do have a bevy of capable ones.

Here are the Bianconeri’s top strikers of 2011-12:

Alessandro Matri: 10 goals and 4 assists (31 appearances)

Mirko Vucinic: 8 goals and 8 assists (32 appearances)

Fabio Quagliarella: 4 goals (22 appearances)

Alessandro Del Piero: 2 goals and 2 assists (22 appearances)

Will Juventus go unbeaten in Serie A in 2011-12?