Juventus clinches record 6th straight Serie A crown

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Juventus' players celebrate after winning the Italian Serie A football match Juventus v. Crotone and the "Scudetto" at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Sunday. (AFP)

ROME: Juventus clinched a record sixth straight Serie A title with a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Crotone in the penultimate round Sunday.
Mario Mandzukic gave Juventus the lead 12 minutes in by redirecting a cross from Juan Cuadrado, Paulo Dybala scored with a precise free kick shortly before the break and Alex Sandro added another with a header near the end.
Juventus moved four points clear of second-placed Roma, which last Sunday handed the Bianconeri their first Serie A loss since January.
Since Serie A was founded in 1929, no club had previously won more than five straight titles.
Torino won five consecutive titles from 1943-49 (including a season that was canceled due to World War II), Inter Milan took five straight from 2006-10 and Juventus claimed a handful from 1931-35.

Celtic seals 36-game unbeaten season
Celtic became the first Scottish Premiership club to go unbeaten through a 38-game season when they defeated Hearts 2-0 on Sunday to win the league by a mammoth 30 points.
Second-half goals by Leigh Griffiths and Stuart Armstrong ensured they did not slip up on the last day, as Celtic ended up with a record of played 38, won 34 and drew four.
They plundered 106 goals on the way and under former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers can seal a domestic treble — their first since 2001 — next Saturday if they beat Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final.
Celtic, who were presented with the Premiership trophy for the sixth time in a row after the match, also set a new points record of 106 — their nearest “challengers” were Aberdeen, way back on 76.
Before the match an emotional tribute was paid to Celtic’s 1967 European Cup winning side — affectionately known as the Lisbon Lions — and by kick-off the noise reverberating around Celtic Park was deafening.
Celtic started brightly, Griffiths curling a free-kick into the side netting before a fierce effort from Kieran Tierney dipped just over the bar.
However, it was Hearts who came closest to an opener midway through the half.
Jozo Simunovic’s foul handed the visitors a free-kick on the edge of the box, which was rolled into the path of Alexandros Tziolis and his angled strike flew narrowly over.
A Callum McGregor long-range strike drew a save from Viktor Noring before the Hearts ‘keeper made a superb stop to keep Dedryck Boyata’s point-blank effort out after the defender connected with a Griffiths corner.
Celtic had scored in every domestic fixture under Rodgers so it seemed inevitable they would eventually break Hearts’ resolve.