Juventus stretched their yawning lead atop Serie A to 11 points with a convincing 3-0 victory over Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The defending champions, who have only dropped two points in the top-flight this season, went ahead courtesy of Rodrigo Bentancur’s fine finish in the 31st minute.
Captain Giorgio Chiellini doubled their lead after the interval in scrappy fashion before Cristiano Ronaldo added gloss to the scoreline from the penalty spot.
The result emphatically ended Fiorentina’s run of five successive draws as Juventus showed no sign of a European hangover.
Massimiliano Allegri’s men defeated Valencia to guarantee their progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League in midweek yet they were slow out of the traps in Florence.
Fiorentina were given an early sight at goal as Jordan Veretout picked out Nikola Milenkovic from a corner but the defender saw his rising header sail over the bar.
Juventus grew steadily stronger as the first half progressed and thought they should have had a penalty when Mattia De Sciglio’s attempted cross came off the hand of Cristiano Biraghi.
Referee Daniele Orsato consulted with the Video Assistant Referee and upheld his decision not to award a spot-kick, concluding the ball came off Biraghi’s arm involuntarily.
If there was any lingering sense of frustration at the decision then Juventus channelled it in the correct manner as Bentacur broke the deadlock just after the half hour.
The midfielder exchanged passes with Paulo Dybala before jinking his way into the box and firing a low left-foot shot beyond Alban Lafont.
Joao Cancelo sent a rasping effort from long range just over the bar while Dybala forced Lafont into a low save as Juventus consolidate their lead before the interval.
Lafont kept out Juan Cuadrado’s drive on the resumption although Fiorentina showed they were not there for the taking as Federico Chiesa forced Wojciech Szczęsny into saving low to his right.
Ronaldo was not having too much of an impact on proceedings but he nearly made his mark midway through the second half as a trademark free-kick was well saved by Lafont.
But Fiorentina’s inability to sufficiently clear their lines from a corner proved their undoing as Juve doubled their lead in the 69th minute.
Cuadrado headed back into the area and Chiellini’s scuffed volley took a touch off Lafont before bouncing over the head of Ronaldo and two defenders and nestling in the net.
On-loan West Ham midfielder Edimilson Fernandes was adjudged to have handled in the area 10 minutes later and Ronaldo rifled the subsequent spot-kick in the top corner.
