Campioni: Juve celebrate in silence Saturday 21 May, 2005
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Milan's failure to beat Palermo has automatically crowned Juve Campioni d’Italia, but the Scudetto celebrations have been strangely quiet.
The club is continuing its controversial Press blackout and refusing to comment on clinching the Serie A title, while there has so far been no get-together to mark the victory.
It is very unusual for an Italian side to win the Scudetto without actually having to play, but Milan’s game with Palermo was brought forward to Friday evening in order to help them prepare for the Champions’ League Final against Liverpool.
The Bianconeri players were all spread around Turin and celebrated in separate parties at each others’ houses. It’s reported that Zlatan Ibrahimovic spent the evening with Stephen Appiah to watch the game before driving around Turin to soak up the atmosphere.
It is traditional for fans to rush to the centre of the city to mark the occasion, but last night there were only a handful of supporters rushing to the Piazza Castello meeting point. That is partly due to the fact that the usual setting of Piazza San Carlo is sealed off for repairs, but above all as Juventus did not have to set foot on to the pitch in order to be crowned Champions for the 28th time.
It is not yet clear whether or not Juventus will lift their Press silence after Sunday’s trip to Livorno, a game in which neither side has anything to play for.
