Juventus beat Sampdoria to seal ninth straight Serie A title – as it happened

The inevitable Cristiano Ronaldo scored a beauty and made the second as Juventus sealed their ninth consecutive title with a 2-0 win over Sampdoria

10.46pm BST

Related: Juventus claim ninth title in a row as Ronaldo sets up win over Sampdoria

10.44pm BST

Peep peep! Juventus are champions of Italy for the 35th time, and for the ninth consecutive season. They won’t reach 90 points, as they have in the last four seasons, but they are the still best team in Italy and they have seen off some fine opposition in Inter, Atalanta and Lazio. It’s a first league title for their coach Maurizio Sarri, and a 492nd major honour for Cristiano Ronaldo. Thanks for your company and emails, goodnight!

10.41pm BST

90+2 min Juventus almost grab a third. First Rabiot’s header is saved by Audero, and then Bonucci’s shot is spectacularly cleared off the line by Yoshida.

10.39pm BST

Cristiano Ronaldo thunders the penalty off the crossbar. It doesn’t matter for Juventus but it does for Ronaldo - a goal there would have moved him to within two of Ciro Immobile in the race for the Capocannoniere.

10.38pm BST

PENALTY TO JUVE! Depaoli hacks Alex Sandro just inside the area, a clear penalty. Depaoli is booked.

10.36pm BST

86 min Yet another headed chance for Sampdoria. Augello’s deep cross from the left is headed a few yards wide by Gabbiadini. That wasn’t as easy as some of the earlier chances because there was no pace on the cross.

10.35pm BST

86 min Rabiot is booked for hoofing the ball away in frustration after being penalised for a foul.

10.32pm BST

82 min Sampdoria appeal for a handball in the Juventus area. The referee isn’t interested and Juventus break two on two. Ronaldo slides a penetrative square pass to set up Higuain, who sidefoots tamely wide of goal.

10.31pm BST

80 min Sampdoria almost score with a training-ground routine of their own. Ramirez, just outside the area on the left, cuts a free-kick back sharply to Quagliarella, whose first-time shot deflects just wide of the near post.

10.29pm BST

80 min Cuadrado is booked for fouling Leris.

10.28pm BST

78 min de Ligt limps off to be replaced by Daniele Rugani. And Rodrigo Bentancur replaces the excellent Pjanic.

10.27pm BST

77 min Sampdoria are down to 10 men. Morten Thorsby overruns the ball, ploughs through Pjanic and receives a second yellow card. There were no complaints.

10.26pm BST

75 min The substitute Gabbiadini almost scores immediately from Depaoli’s excellent cutback, but de Ligt slides across to block his first-time shot. Sampdoria have been really impressive tonight.

10.23pm BST

73 min “Juventus are going to be champions of Italy for the ninth time in a row,” says Ruth Purdue. “Really healthy that, well done everyone.”

Well, there is that. Bayern have also won eight in a row in Germany, and PSG seven of the last eight in France.

10.23pm BST

72 min Time for the drinks break. Sampdoria bring on Manolo Gabbiadini for Jankto.

10.22pm BST

71 min: Fine save by Szczesny! Sampdoria have had some great opportunites tonight. Leris curled over a superb cross from the right to find Quagliarella, whose thumping header was pushed away by the flying Szczesny. It was a really good save, but Quagliarella shouldn’t have given him a chance. His header was nowhere near the corner.

10.18pm BST

Juventus are going to be champions of Italy for the ninth time in a row. The second goal, which surely seals victory tonight, came on the break. Ronaldo cut inside and belted a low shot that was spilled by Audero, and the substitute Bernardeschi was first on the scene to poke the loose ball into the net. That’s his first goal in Serie A since September 2018.

10.16pm BST

It’s there!

10.15pm BST

65 min Jankto is booked for pulling back Cuadrado.

10.11pm BST

61 min: Good save from Audero! Rabiot steals the ball off Linetty and makes another of those imperious surges at a backpedalling defence. Eventually he eases the ball to his right to find Ronaldo, whose fierce shot is beaten away at the near post by Audero.

10.10pm BST

60 min Ronaldo has a shot bblocked by Depaoli.

10.07pm BST

57 min Ramirez heads straight at Szczesny from Depaoli’s flat cross. That was another decent opportunity.

10.05pm BST

55 min For a team with nothing to play for, Sampdoria have been quite brilliant.

10.04pm BST

54 min: Great chance for Tonelli! Samp really should be level. Ramirez’s outswinging corner from the left was met emphatically by the leaping Tonelli, whose downward header went this far wide of the far post. Having beaten de Ligt to the ball, he probably should have scored.

10.03pm BST

52 min The last time Juventus failed to win Serie A was in 2010-11, when they suffered a farcical new-year collapse of seven defeats in 11 games.

10.01pm BST

51 min: Chance for Samp! Augello’s fine cross from the left was missed by the leaping Ramirez but dropped nicely for Leris, whose instinctive half-volley went just wide of the near post.

10.00pm BST

50 min Juventus have made a strong start to the season. A superb, dipping free-kick from Pjanic on the right just evades both Ronaldo and Higuain at the far post.

9.55pm BST

46 min Peep peep! Juventus begin the second half.

9.39pm BST

Half-time reading

Related: The Joy of Six: Training-ground set-piece goals

Related: Internazionale 0-2 Sampdoria: Serie A, 1990-91 – as it happened

9.38pm BST

That was a classic training-ground goal. The free-kick was 20 yards out, a long way to the right of centre. Pjanic dummied to shoot and instead angled a sharp pass across the area to Ronaldo, who ran round the ball and smacked it first time into the bottom corner. That’s a cracking goal.

9.37pm BST

One-nil!

9.36pm BST

45+6 min Tonelli is booked for pulling back Rabiot, who had made another powerful run through midfield. He’s been very impressive tonight.

9.34pm BST

45+4 min Bernardeschi clips the free-kick over the wall and over the bar.

9.33pm BST

45+2 min After a snappy, one-touch move from Juventus, Rabiot is tripped on the edge of the area by Thorsby. The free-kick is a fair way to the right of centre, so not ideal for a right-footer. Thorsby has been booked.

9.31pm BST

45+1 min There will be six minutes of added time because of all the injuries.

9.30pm BST

45 min Pjanic is booked for a tactical foul on Ramirez.

9.30pm BST

44 min That’s more like it from Juventus. Pjanic and Ronaldo combine to find Bernardeschi, whose fierce rising drive from 20 yards is beaten away by Audero.

9.26pm BST

41 min Ronaldo, who has looked in a foul mood all night, cuts inside from the left and drives over the bar from long range.

9.25pm BST

40 min The third substitution of the first half - Gonzalo Higuain is on for the injured Paulo Dybala. It looks like a thigh injury.

9.24pm BST

39 min At the other end, Cuadrado spanks a loose ball into orbit from the edge of the area.

9.24pm BST

38 min: Chance for Quagliarella! Sampdoria could easily be ahead. Jankto got behind Cuadrado on the left, moved into the area and picked out Quagriella 10 yards from goal with a precise cutback. His first-time shot was pretty tame, though, and Szczesny plunged to his left to make a comfortable save.

9.23pm BST

37 min “Ciro Immobile! has made me smile this evening,” says Ruth Purdue. “Enjoy.”

Wow...what a finish from Ciro Immobile!

That's No. 33 for the Serie A season and another big goal in the Capocannoniere race pic.twitter.com/0iEKkDS41h

9.21pm BST

36 min Alex Sandro’s cross from the left flashes right across the Sampdoria area.

9.21pm BST

35 min Quagliarella hits a good rising drive from 25 yards that is comfortably saved to his left by Szczesny.

9.19pm BST

34 min Bernardeschi tries to take matters into his own hands with a chest-volley from the edge of the box. It dribbles well wide.

9.17pm BST

31 min Juventus haven’t got going at all, though Sampdoria deserve credit for how effectively they have harassed them.

9.15pm BST

28 min Ramirez is having his head bandaged. But Danilo is coming off to be replaced by Federico Bernardeschi. From Danilo’s body language, I think he wanted to carry on and was overruled by the physio.

9.11pm BST

25 min While Danilo is treated, the players take a drinks break.

9.10pm BST

24 min A grim clash of heads between Danilo and Ramirez. Danilo looks really unsteady on his feet and I’m not sure he’ll be able to continue.

9.08pm BST

23 min Chabot was injured in that challenge with Ronaldo and is going off. Mehdi Leris replaces him.

9.06pm BST

20 min Ronaldo’s header is saved by the legs of Audero, though he had been penalised for climbing all over Chabot at the far post. He was very unhappy with the decision, but it looked like a foul.

9.04pm BST

19 min I don’t know whether Sampdoria can keep this up for 90 minutes. For the time being, though, they are making life uncomfortable for Juve.

9.00pm BST

15 min The corner is half cleared to Linetty, whose volley is blocked.

9.00pm BST

15 min The under pressure de Ligt’s attempted pass to Szczesny goes behind for a corner. Sampdoria have been pretty aggressive in their pressing and tackling, and Claudio Ranieri will be really pleased with the first 15 minutes.

8.59pm BST

13 min “Wearing a mask has got to really inhibit the number of cigarettes Sarri can suck down,” says J.R. in Illinois. “I suppose he can still just chew the butts beneath his mask to get his nicotine fix.”

Where there’s an addiction, there’s a way.

8.56pm BST

10 min Rabiot steals the ball in midfield and leads a four-on-two break, only to grossly overhit his pass to Ronaldo. He is unable to control it properly and that allows Chabot to make an important tackle.

8.53pm BST

8 min Sampdoria look quite spritely going forward; they certainly haven’t come for a 0-0.

8.51pm BST

5 min Ronaldo slices miles wide after a good knockback from Matuidi. It wouldn’t have counted as Matuidi was offside when he ran onto Dybala’s lofted pass.

8.50pm BST

4 min: Chance for Sampdoria! Augello swings in a nice cross from the left towards Ramirez, whose downward header from 10 yards is too close to Szczesny. That was a chance.

8.48pm BST

2 min Ronaldo storms into the area and is about to shoot when Tonelli appears on his blind side to make a vital tackle.

8.45pm BST

1 min Peep peep! Sampdoria, in their classic blue strip, kick off from right to left. Juve are in black and white halves.

8.45pm BST

The coaches Maurizio Sarri and Claudio Ranieri, combined age 129, smile warmly as they greet each other. I think Sarri was smiling, anyway; he has a mask on so I can’t be sure. But his body language suggested he was very happy to see our Claudio.

8.29pm BST

“How good has Ramsey been this season?” says Andrew Hurley, and that’s not a rhetorical question. “I haven’t followed closely but he seems to have been in and out of the team.”

I haven’t seen much of Juventus this season either. It’s probably fair to say the move hasn’t quite worked as he’d hoped, apart from the payslips. I think he’s only started 11 Serie A games.

8.28pm BST

Some pre-match reading

Related: Romelu Lukaku hits double as Inter sink Genoa to keep pressure on Juventus

7.50pm BST

Juventus (4-3-3) Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, de Ligt, Alex Sandro; Rabiot, Pjanic, Matuidi; Cuadrado, Dybala, Ronaldo.
Substitutes: Ramsey, Higuain, Rugani, Demiral, Bentancur, Pinsoglio, Bernardeschi, Olivieri, Muratore, Zanimacchia, Buffon.

Sampdoria (3-5-2) Audero; Chabot, Yoshida, Tonelli; Depaoli, Linetty, Jankto, Thorsby, Augello; Ramirez, Quagliarella.
Substitutes: Bonazzoli, Askildsen, La Gumina, Maroni, Seculin, Gabbiadini, Ferrari, Leris, Murru, Falcone, Rocha.

6.40pm BST

Let’s try that one again. Juventus missed the chance to win their ninth consecutive league title when they lost at Udinese, but they have three more chances to get the victory they need. The first is at home to Claudio Ranieri’s Sampdoria, who had been in terrific form until they lost the Genoa derby on Wednesday.

Related: Happiness and sadness abound as Genoa edge out Sampdoria in derby | Nicky Bandini

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Published on July 26, 2020 14:46
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