Juventus promoted back to Serie A

Juventus were promoted back to Serie A on Saturday with three games to spare after a thumping 5-1 win at Arezzo.

Didier Deschamps's side, demoted from the top flight last year because of a match-fixing scandal, top the Serie B table with 82 points.

Captain Alessandro Del Piero netted his 19th and 20th goals of the season and defender Giorgio Chiellini also scored twice to defeat struggling Arezzo, managed by former Juventus stalwart Antonio Conte.

The Turin club return to Serie A at the first attempt despite a nine-point deduction linked to the match-fixing verdict, which came after former general manager Luciano Moggi was found guilty of securing favourable referees.

The penalty in Serie B originally stood at 30 points but two appeals brought the deduction down to 17 and then nine points.

"I asked the boys to end it today and not to think about the other matches. It brings great satisfaction and a lot of joy to everyone involved in this adventure," Deschamps told Sky Sport.

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, one of several top players Juve managed to hang on to this season, made a double save early on and Arezzo had other good chances as Juventus failed to settle.

Del Piero eased their nerves with a superb shot across the goalkeeper on 19 minutes following a neat through ball from Claudio Marchisio.

Chiellini then took advantage of a blunder by Arezzo keeper Nicolas Bremec to head in on 33 minutes but Antonio Floro Flores pulled one back on halftime when he exposed a Juventus defence that will need rebuilding in Serie A.

Juve would not be denied though and Chiellini finished off Del Piero's free kick early in the second period before Del Piero nodded in the fourth and David Trezeguet turned in number five.

"It is has been a difficult year and it is right to celebrate our passage. Now we are starting to think about next year," Del Piero said.

Second-placed Genoa's hopes of automatic promotion took a slight knock after a 2-2 draw at Bari while Napoli, in third, drew 1-1 with Modena.

© Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.