Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon says the Scudetto they won this season is the best ever, given how far they came to get it.
After a 2-1 defeat to Sassuolo, Juve were languishing in 12th place -- 11 points behind league leaders Roma with just 12 points from their first ten games of the season. No club had ever recovered to win the league from such a poor start to the season, and coach Massimiliano Allegri said it was "pointless" talking about the Scudetto "especially if we're playing like this."
Since then, the Bianconeri have picked up 73 of a possible 75 points, winning the title with three games to spare on Monday after their nearest rivals Napoli were beaten 1-0 by Roma.
"The statistics confirm it has been a crazy season," said Buffon, reports La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"This is the best Scudetto ever because it has come from an incredible demonstration of strength. It's a victory for a granite, cohesive group. It was a win for the club."
For the 38-year-old goalkeeper, it was a seventh Serie A title and one which continues to pay back his dedication to the club following their relegation to Serie B in 2006 as a result of the Calciopoli scandal.
"Considering those times of Calciopoli, when I stayed here even in Serie B, this is a special reward for me which gratifies me, and I think it's deserved," he said. "What life takes from you it later gives you back.
"I fought for a worthy cause without any ulterior motives and in the end, life always gives you something back. When we were two points behind Napoli, I told the team not to give up now because there was a risk that, after such a recovery, we could have sat back. But it all went well. It's a momentous achievement."
While it was Scudetto number seven for Buffon, it was a first for Paulo Dybala -- a player tipped by his coach Massimiliano Allegri to be the best in the world just a few years from now.
"It's an incredible day," he said. "I'm delighted. Going down in history with this club is unrivaled. I'm delighted with this Scudetto and I hope it's the first of many. I'm proud of what I've done and now we've got to carry on because there's another final for us to win.
"We've won 24 of our last 25 and we want to make it 27 out of 28. When I came here I had the objective of scoring 10-15 goals, and then I noted how Carlos Tevez had scored 21 so I've worked hard to try to catch him. I want the fans to love me the way they loved Tevez."
With his 16 goals, the former Palermo forward has already earned plenty of affection from the Juve fans, who have long since been admirers of Leonardo Bonucci. The central defender was the first to post videos on social media of the side celebrating when Roma scored the goal against Napoli which meant the title was theirs.
"It's been a crazy season," Bonucci said. "People said we were dead, yet here we are. We had to change things and our captain [Buffon] pointed us in the right direction with his famous speech. The Juve we saw in the first month and a half of the season was too ugly to be true, but men then emerged and that's how we won 24 out of 25.
"Of the five Scudettos I have won, the first one was the most important because it was the start of a cycle, but I would put this one in second place for the way in which we won it. If we had not done it, then all those people who said we would not have been the same without champions like [Andrea] Pirlo, [Arturo] Vidal and [Carlos] Tevez would have been proved right, but instead we proved that, starting with the club, this is a winning group."