Sampdoria vs. Juventus: Winners and Losers from Serie A
Juventus secured their fourth straight Serie A title on Saturday with a 1-0 win at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris over Sampdoria.
Arturo Vidal provided the lone goal of the match with a header in the 32nd minute of the Bianconeri's 24th victory of the league campaign.
The loss kept Sampdoria in fifth place on 51 points. They will have to wait around until Sunday to see if their one-point margin over Genoa will stay in place. Genoa visit Roma on Sunday.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from Juventus' title-clinching victory.
Winner: Arturo Vidal
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Vidal's run behind Fernando Llorente turned out to be one of the wisest decisions of the match after his header found the back of the net.
The Chilean looped behind the Spanish forward as insurance just in case Llorente failed to get his noggin on Stephan Lichtsteiner's cross.
Vidal's plan worked out, as the defender's pass from the right wing missed Llorente by a few inches. Instead of suffering from a bout of disappointment, the Juventus bench erupted into a celebration following Vidal's first goal since January, per WhoScored.
The 32nd-minute goal proved to be enough for the Bianconeri to clinch their fourth consecutive Scudetto ahead of the crucial UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg with Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Loser: Djamel Mesbah
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Four minutes after he allowed Lichtsteiner a ton of space on the right wing, Djamel Mesbah earned a spot on the Sampdoria bench.
Sampdoria boss Sinisa Mihajlovic decided to remove Mesbah from the match after he left the Juventus right-back open during the buildup to the lone goal of the contest.
Not only did Mesbah do himself no favors with his defending in the first 36 minutes, but also his replacement, Vasco Regini, turned in a decent shift on the left flank.
Because of the respective showings from each of the Sampdoria left-backs on Saturday, it would not be a surprise if Mesbah was left on the bench for the next match against Udinese.
Winner: Stephan Lichtsteiner
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Lichtsteiner's lasting memory from this match will be the assist in the 32nd minute, but he did much more than that in the 1-0 victory.
The Juventus right-back silenced Pedro Obiang on the left flank during the 73 minutes in which the Sampdoria winger was on the pitch.
Lichtsteiner totaled three interceptions, two clearances and 83 touches, the latter statistic being the second-best recorded by any Juventus player.
The performance from the Swiss defender came at a great time for Juventus as the dangerous Real Madrid attackers await the Old Lady of Italian football at Juventus Stadium on Tuesday night.
Loser: Samuel Eto'o
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In the 13th minute, Samuel Eto'o had a golden opportunity in front of him as he cruised down the right side of the pitch.
As he stormed into the final third, a pair of Juventus defenders circled around the forward, which allowed Luis Muriel to sneak into plenty of space on the left side of the field.
With Muriel waiting to pounce in front of Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Eto'o waited too long, rushed his pass and failed to create a scoring chance.
The move into the final third in the 13th minute turned out to be one of the few dangerous attacks created by the Sampdoria forwards throughout 90 minutes.
If Eto'o perfectly delivered the ball over to Muriel, Sampdoria may have earned a chance to dictate the pace of the match.
Winner: Leonardo Bonucci
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Leonardo Bonucci slid in and made a crucial block in the 65th minute in order to preserve the 1-0 result.
Substitute Gonzalo Bergessio looked to be ready to test Buffon with a shot from the right side of the box. But before he could fire his effort on target, Bonucci got involved and deflected the ball out for a corner.
Seconds after the dangerous move from Bergessio, the Argentinian forward bounced a weak header into the arms of Buffon at the left post.
If Bonucci did not race back and deny Bergessio of an attempt on goal, the final 25 minutes of the match may have been an interesting watch.
Loser: Luis Muriel
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Muriel was one of the most active players on the pitch on Saturday, but he failed to put any shots on goal.
The 24-year-old's closest attempt came in the 91st minute, when he slammed a shot into the side netting on the right side of the goal.
The Colombian did combine well with Eto'o and Bergessio throughout his 90-minute shift, but when it came to finishing in the penalty area, he lacked the final touch.
If Sampdoria are to remain on top of Genoa in the race for fifth, Muriel must be able to put his shots on target in order to create scoring opportunities in front of the net.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from WhoScored.com.
