Juventus president Andrea Agnelli says his club have no intention of adding a third star above their badge, despite winning their 30th Serie A title at the weekend. #INSERT
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caption:Juventus clinched what is officially their 30th title last weekend.
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The Bianconeri clinched their third straight Scudetto on Sunday without even playing as Roma's defeat to Catania left them unable to catch Juve at the top of the table. Antonio Conte's men then extended their lead at the top of the table to 11 points with two games to go thanks to a 1-0 win over Atalanta on Monday night.
They now have the right to display three stars, one for each ten league titles, but the Turin club continue to maintain that they had already won their 30th title two years ago. Two titles from 2005 and 2006 were revoked as part of a match manipulation scandal which saw the Bianconeri relegated to Serie B, meaning they officially only have 30.
"We're not putting the third star on our shirts," Agnelli said at a news conference at Juventus Stadium. "For us, we have 32 Scudettos, even if only 30 of them are being counted. Then when somebody else manages to be able to put a second star on their shirt, we will add the third to ours, just to emphasise the difference."
Not wearing a third star will not take anything away from what Agnelli described as an outstanding season, despite falling short in Europe. Juve were eliminated from the Europa League in the semifinal last week, but Agnelli believes criticism of his side's performances in Europe is misplaced.
"It's hard to find adjectives to describe what we have done," Agnelli said. "We've written another page in Juventus' history. I've read about the 'failure' of Bayern in the Champions League after they were beaten by Real, but I find that excessive, and the same goes to the comments about Juve beyond our national borders.
"We reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League last year and the semifinals of the Europa League this year. There are 100 clubs who set out to win these cups, but only two can succeed. Certainly you can't say that all of the rest have failed, but we're nevertheless working on strengthening for next season."
Not only will Juve be focusing on strengthening the playing staff, they will also be trying to convince Conte to stay. After winning three titles in a row, the Juve coach on Monday admitted his doubts at how much further the club can go.
"We've got to evaluate a few things with the club now," he told reporters in Turin. "Sometimes, Juve's history can become a handicap. Winning in Italy means the fans want to win in Europe too, but it's not so easy right now for various reasons. We need to clarify a few things. These have been three intense and tiring years. I've always been a Juventino, even when I was coaching elsewhere."