Serie A Title Betting: Juve boast their own special one as Conte comes back

Juve are a stronger unit with Conte

Antonio Conte was back on the bench on Sunday after his four-month ban, and his return will make life even tougher for those clubs trying to catch Juventus this season, writes Ben Lyttleton

How much influence can a coach have from the touchline? After four months, 22 games, 122 days and two different assistants, Juventus welcomed back coach Antonio Conte to the bench in Sunday afternoon's 1-0 win over Palermo. Just like when he was last prowling the touchline, Juventus are still top, but since then, their unbeaten run has ended, broken by Inter Milan last month after 49 games.

And it looks like Inter will be providing their closest title challenge after they beat Napoli 2-1 to move into second place, four points behind last year's Scudetto winners. While Fredy Guarin and Diego Milito were the Inter scorers, Edinson Cavani pulling one back for Napoli, in a result which has brought Inter inthe Serie A Winners market to 8.415/2 for the title, with Juventus 1.412/5.
 
Conte was banned as part of the Calcioscommesse trial, when he was charged with not reporting evidence of match-fixing when Siena coach in 2011. His deputy, Angelo Alessio, was also suspended and so youth coach Massimo Carrera took their place on the bench, and the club continued as though it was business as usual. 

On October 5, Conte's ban was reduced to four months, and to mark this week's return to the bench, Juventus fans unfurled a banner at the club's Vinovo training-ground which read: 'After the injustice, you are back on the bench. Antonio, we're always with you'. Even Juventus's official Twitter account wrote how exciting Conte's return would be. 

Conte's afternoon started nervously, as Fabrizio Miccoli struck an effort past Gigi Buffon only to see it ruled out for offside. Josip Ilicic also failed to finish when in a good position. But soon after the second half, Mirko Vucinic's back-heel set up Stephane Lichsteiner to burst into the box and fire past goalkeeper Samir Ujkani. 

Lichsteiner has been Juventus's in-form player, responding to the threat to his place as right wing-back from Kwadwo Asamoah in devastating style. He also has a habit of scoring big goals: he scored Juventus's first goal of last season and this one, and now the first goal with Conte back on the sideline. 

After the game, Buffon admitted that the coach's impact had a positive presence on the team: "The main thing about having Conte back in the dressing-room is before the game: with him around, it's impossible for anyone to not be properly focused." 

Conte was in cheery mood in his post-match interview, even pretending that he had missed his regular inquisitors from Sky Italia. "I never thought it would be possible to miss you guys, but I did," he said.

"I have special players, a special club, maybe me too I'm a special one," he said, invoking comparisons to Jose Mourinho.

Certainly for his impact on the team, Conte can be spoken of in the same breath: as a player at Juventus, he won five Scudetti and a Champions League under Marcello Lippi. In 13 years at the club, he made 419 appearances and was described by Lippi, on his appointment as coach last summer, as "a leader of all Juventus sides... who can transmit everything that he has inside, his passion and his desire to win."

With Conte back on the bench, it is hard to seeing Juventus slipping in the race for the title again. As Italy coach Cesare Prandelli put it: "A great coach is now back and his character will make Juventus even more intense."