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Juventus set points record for halfway stage
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-17 09:26
ROME, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Juventus set a new record for the most points at the
halfway stage of a Serie A season when they beat Reggina 1-0 at the weekend.
Juventus Alessandro
Del Piero holds a trophy to celebrate his 183 goals with Juventus before
the start of their Italian Serie A soccer match against Reggina at the
Delle Alpi stadium in Turin January 15, 2006.
[Reuters] | The win gave the Italian champions 52
points from 19 matches, 10 ahead of second-placed Inter Milan.
Juventus have been in imperious form all season, racking up 17 wins and
dropping points just twice - in a 3-1 defeat to AC Milan in October and again in
a 1-1 draw against Lazio in December.
Serie A has not always contained 20 teams. The scoring system has also
changed over time. Prior to the 1994-95 season a win was worth two points
instead of three.
Even so, Fabio Capello's Juventus are still the most successful team ever at
this stage of the season, narrowly bettering the previous mark set by the Juve
side of the 1949-50, who notched up 16 wins, two draws and a defeat in their
opening 19 games - a series that would have given them 50 points under today's
scoring system.
Great teams of the more recent past include the 1992-93 Milan side of Frank
Rijkaard and Marco van Basten that collected 15 wins and four draws (49 points
under today's scoring system) and Diego Maradona's Napoli side of 1987-88, who
won 15, drew three and suffered one defeat (48 points).
"I can't help but be pleased by the numbers," Juve coach Fabio Capello was
quoted as saying in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday.
"But the important thing is to always keep one step ahead of the pursuers -
it's the only thing that interests me from here until the end."
Juve's Capello plans to quit coaching in 2009
ROME, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Juventus coach Fabio Capello plans to quit
football in 2009.
"In three years time I'll stop (coaching), but I won't
go into retirement, that's for sure," Capello said at a ceremony in Milan on
Monday, where he was receiving the 2005 Gianni Brera award for sporting
excellence.
"Maybe I'll commentate a few matches on television, but I want to have more
free time to travel and see the world," he was quoted as saying by Italian news
agency ANSA.
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