The former Italian national team manager Marcelo Lippi has praised the Juventus manager Antonio Conte by saying that he expects the current Italian champions to remain top of the table at the end of this season as well.
The manager recently returned to the Juventus dugout after serving a four-month ban after being found guilty of being involved in match fixing. The manager, though, has been one of the key members of the rival of Juventus into one of the top clubs in Italy once again. Juventus thought that their glory days of winning the Italian Serie A championship numerous times were over after their relegation in 2006.
However, Conte not only managed to get Juventus top of the table last season, but he did so by keeping the team undefeated through the entire season. Even though the undefeated run has recently come to an end, Juventus still remain top of the table this season. They also have a sizeable advantage of 10 points over the chasing pack, which makes them the clear favourites for the title once again. Ahead of the break in the Italian division during the Christmas period, Lippi has said that he expects Juventus to win the title again this season.
“Antonio Conte has brought back the ‘Juventus spirit’ and identity, a concept that people outside the club do not always understand. I am referring to the work ethic and ferocity in searching for results that represent the Juve DNA, but had been slightly lost in recent years. The comparisons with my Juve, or those of Fabio Capello and Giovanni Trapattoni, are understandable because we are all united by that culture,” said Marcelo Lippi. Juventus have already lost two matches this season, but the poor form shown by the likes of Inter Milan and AC Milan mean that they have not been challenged so far.