Ghana midfielder won a second – and Juventus’ third – consecutive Serie A title without playing on Sunday when AS Roma, their only remaining challengers, lost 4-1 at lowly Catania on a weekend overshadowed by shootings before the Italian Cup final.
Juventus players celebrated their record 30th title in the guest house which the team uses as a pre-match retreat after watching Roma’s dramatic collapse on television.
“This is wonderful,” Asamoah said shortly before kickoff.
“It is the second time I’ve won a Scudetto without playing, as it happened about 10 years ago. It’s different, a special sensation, but still wonderful,” goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon told Mediaset.
“Of course I prefer the satisfaction of winning on the field and that moment the whistle blows and you have given everything you’ve got, both physical and psychological.”
Defender Giorgio Chiellini added: “It was an incredible journey and we’re not finished as we want to become the first Serie A club to amass 100 points.”
Juve’s title, however, came on an awful weekend for Italian football thanks to the events before Saturday’s Cup final between Napoli and Fiorentina in Rome.
Police said on Sunday they had arrested a 48-year-old Roma supporter, Daniele De Santis, for shooting and wounding three Napoli fans with a pistol.
The shootings preceded ugly scenes inside Rome’s Olympic Stadium, where supporters threw flares and smoke bombs, delayed the start of the final and jeered the national anthem.
With so much else going on, AC Milan’s 1-0 derby win over Inter, courtesy of a second-half header by Nigel de Jong, was reduced to a mere sideshow. Both teams are battling for a Europa League place with Inter fifth on 57 points and Milan eighth on 54.
Roma, who had bravely kept their challenge going by winning their last nine games, inexplicably produced one of their worst performances of the season against the Sicilian strugglers.
Source: AP and Football Italia