Allegri rallies his Turin troops for treble tilt

TURIN, Italy - Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri called on the Turin giant to complete a historic treble in the Champions League final after securing a third straight domestic league-and-cup double on Sunday.

"This season was much different to last season. Now, we have the dream of the Champions League final, which you don't get to play every year," Allegri said after a 3-0 win over Crotone on Sunday wrapped up a sixth straight Serie A title.

"It's our second final in three years, so we have to congratulate everyone at the club. I'm happy to coach here, and we'll soon sit down to talk about some ideas.

"But right now, the most important thing is to play, and win, the final in Cardiff (against Real Madrid)."

First-half goals from Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala and a late header from Alex Sandro sealed a comfortable victory to leave Juve four points clear of Roma with one match to play.

Mandzukic gave the host a 12th-minute lead when he met Juan Cuadrado's cross at the back post to fire past Crotone goalkeeper Alex Cordaz.

Croatia international Mandzukic, celebrating his 31st birthday, almost made it 2-0 but Fabio Sampirisi toe-poked the ball away from the big forward as he teed up.

But the fans who packed out Juve's stadium for their final home game of the campaign were not to be denied.

Dybala doubled the lead with a sumptuous freekick that curled into the top corner to leave Cordaz with no chance six minutes before the break.

Looking for a win to boost their top-flight survival hopes, Crotone came close to reducing the arrears on the stroke of half time when Diego Falcinelli's effort deflected off Mehdi Benatia and skimmed the roof of the net with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon stranded.

But the Calabrians were never likely to deny Juventus the title celebrations that were put on hold last week when Roma stunned Allegri's men 3-1 at Stadio Olimpico.

Juve bounced back from its defeat in the capital three days later with a 2-0 Italian Cup final victory over Lazio.

And their third consecutive double, also a record, was all but sealed seven minutes from time when Sandro's bullet header pinged in off the underside of the crossbar. Goal-line technology confirmed the ball had crossed the line despite the best efforts of Cordaz.

With two legs of the treble complete, Juventus will try to dethrone 11-time European king Madrid in the Champions League final in Cardiff on June 3 to accomplish what no team in the club's history has ever achieved.

Elsewhere, Inter Milan finally awoke from a recent league slumber to claim its first win in nine games, although its 3-1 win over 10-man Lazio was too little too late as it lost out on the chance of qualifying for the Europa League.

Inter's last win was a 7-1 rout of Atalanta in mid-March, the Nerazzurri going on to lose six in an eight-match winless streak that saw coach Stefano Pioli sacked two weeks ago.

Keita Balde's 19th-minute penalty, awarded for a foul on Felipe Anderson, gave the host the lead.

However, Inter, led by caretaker coach Stefano Vecchi, finally turned on the style to take a 2-1 lead into the break thanks to a Marco Andreolli strike and a Wesley Hoedt own goal.

Eder, playing in place of injured captain Mauro Icardi, fired Inter's third on 74 minutes but the visitor spurned several chances to add to its tally when both Keita and Senad Lulic were sent off.

Inter moved up one place to seventh, but it is four points behind city rival AC Milan in the final Europa League spot with one game remaining.

Agence France-Presse