Juventus vs Atalanta preview - Del Piero set for Juve farewell

Posted Sunday, May 13, 2012 by PA

Serie A champions Juventus make a triumphant return to Turin for the final match of the campaign against Atalanta.

Juve won their 28th scudetto last weekend when the outgoing champions AC Milan fell 4-2 at Inter Milan and the Bianconeri won 2-0 in Trieste to Cagliari.

It represents an excellent achievement for coach Antonio Conte in his first season in charge.

Conte has also led Juve to the Coppa Italia final, which will see the Turin outfit square off against Napoli in Rome next weekend.

"Credit goes to my players and to the fans that have believed in us from the start," Conte said.

"We have faced a very strong rival like Milan in the race for the title."

Juve have shown few signs of weakness en route to the scudetto and need at least a point against Atalanta to join Perugia and AC Milan as the only outfits in Serie A to have gone undefeated throughout a season.

"To end the campaign unbeaten would be something historic," Conte said. "To have taken positive results in 37 consecutive games in the league is something to be proud of."

They have collected 81 points in 37 games, four more than closest rivals AC Milan so far.

The Turin giants have the best defensive line in the competition with 19 goals conceded.

The game will be Alessandro Del Piero's last league match in Juve colours. The veteran captain will leave this summer after 20 years at the club.

The 37-year-old's contract with the Bianconeri outfit expires this summer and the club will not offer him a new deal.

Del Piero holds the all-time goalscoring record at Juventus while he is also the club's all-time highest-capped player.

Atalanta have fared well this campaign and go into the final weekend in 11th place.

Many had tipped Stefano Colantuono's side for relegation after the Bergamaschi, who had been promoted to Serie A at the end of the 2010-11 season, began the current campaign with a six-point deduction as punishment for match-fixing.

However, they have proved their critics wrong and guaranteed their top flight status last month.

Last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Lazio was Atalanta's 11th loss of the campaign.