CRISTIANO RONALDO played a key role in the winning goal and Juventus beat Fiorentina 2-1 Saturday to clinch a record-extending eighth straight Serie A title.

It’s the first time in Europe’s five major leagues — Italy, England, Spain, Germany and France — that a club has won eight straight titles.

And it was a big relief for Juventus following its elimination by Ajax in the Champions League on Tuesday, after failing to clinch last weekend with a surprise loss at Spal.

“It was upsetting and negative on Tuesday,” Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci said. “Today we turned our anger toward the pitch and transformed it into positive energy to achieve this goal.”

Juventus needed only a point but quickly fell behind when Nikola Milenkovic took advantage of confusion inside the Bianconeri area to score for Fiorentina six minutes in.

However, Alex Sandro headed in from a corner for the equalizer and Ronaldo’s cross from a sharp angle was then redirected in by Fiorentina defender German Pezzella either side of halftime.

Ronaldo, who joined Juventus for this season from Real Madrid, became the first player to win the English Premier League (with Manchester United), the Spanish league (with Madrid) and Serie A.

“It was a very good first season and I adapted well. We won the ‘scudetto’ and the Italian Super Cup, which is certainly not easy to achieve,” Ronaldo said. “You can’t win all the time. We felt that we could do more ... but only one side can win the Champions League.

“Next year is a new page, the fans all want it and so do we,” Ronaldo said of the Champions League, adding that he’s “1,000 percent” certain he will stay with Juventus for next season.

After the final whistle, Juventus players celebrated by forming a circle and jumping up and down clapping their hands. Then they drank champagne and some players invited their children out to take part in the festivities.

Juventus moved 20 points ahead of second-place Napoli, which has six games left.

It was Juventus’ 35th title overall. However, the jumbo screens inside Allianz Stadium flashed No. 37 to include the 2005 and 2006 titles that were stripped in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

The only other club in the top five European leagues that had won seven straight was Lyon in France from 2002-08.

The Juventus women’s team also clinched the Italian title Saturday, with a 3-0 win at Hellas Verona in the final round of the season. It’s the second consecutive title for the women’s squad.

The men’s team had to come from behind, as Milenkovic’s goal was the earliest Juventus has conceded all season.

“Congratulations to Juve,” Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella said. “They definitely didn’t win the league today. They earned it over the entire season.”

Meanwhile, AC Milan’s hold on a Champions League spot was in jeopardy following a 1-1 draw at Parma.

Milan remained in fourth place but was only one point ahead of Roma, which drew 1-1 at third-place Inter Milan.  (SD-Agencies)