Serie A leaders Juventus ended a difficult week with another 2-0 triumph, prevailing at AC Milan on Sunday after flying back from Turkey, where they had won by the same margin at Trabzonspor AŞ in the UEFA Europa League.
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Seedorf's side looked to be in control in the first half, but the visitors broke the deadlock a minute before the break through Fernando Llorente, and added another when Carlos Tévez scored his 14th league goal of the season after 68 minutes. "It would take a tank to beat this Juve," said Rossoneri coach Clarence Seedorf. "Let's hope we don't meet any panzers, then," replied Juventus coach Antonio Conte with a smile.
Tévez's powerful long-range shot earned him praise from Gianluigi Buffon. "His goal was amazing, and it is not the first one he has scored like that," said the goalkeeper. "Certainly, we could breathe a bit easier after that – we took our chances but we also had a bit of luck tonight." The 30-year-old Argentinian is now the joint top scorer in Serie A, and the Rossoneri may regret not having signed Tévez in January 2012 when a deal seemed imminent.
"It wasn't easy today," Conte concluded. "Let's say Milan were like half a tank – they had enthusiasm and they played with a very high tempo in the first half. We had some problems, then Llorente scored and we changed our tactics during the break. Some say that Milan are not as strong a side as they once were, but if you look at my first two years at Juve, we got a draw and a loss against them at San Siro, so it wasn't easy at all."
With second-placed AS Roma 11 points behind them – albeit with a game in hand – following 0-0 against FC Internazionale Milano, and SSC Napoli a further six points back in third, it is hard to imagine Juventus missing out on a third successive title. "For sure, 11 points is a good lead," said Buffon. "But still, I don't underestimate Roma, especially because we are still in Europe and they are not, so sooner or later we might pay in terms of fitness problems."
Conte knows that is a concern. "Everything went fine for us in the league, but there are players who have never been rested, like [Leonardo] Bonucci, or [Paul] Pogba, who only had a two-week break in the summer after playing in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, so I am staying alert," the former Italy midfielder noted. "We have an 11-point margin, but there's still a long road ahead. It would be something special to win a third Scudetto in a row."
