Topics: Juventus, Chievo, Sampdoria, Atalanta, Serie A
LiveSoccerTV takes a look at Sampdoria striker Fabio Quagliarella's record-matching goal, Juve's record-setting win, Chievo's break-through, and more from matchday 19.

We are now at the halfway point of the 2018/2019 Serie A season, and Juventus have now been officially crowned "winter champions". With 19 rounds down, 19 still to go, there are plenty of talking points to be discussed, but here are the five most notable from the first ever batch of games to be played on December 29th in Serie A history.

Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella continues on brilliant goalscoring run

Although his side failed to win, Fabio Quagliarella matched a very impressive record at the Allianz Stadium against Juventus. The 35-year-old striker temporarily pulled Sampdoria level with a perfectly executed penalty after Cristiano Ronaldo had given the Bianconeri a very early lead and in doing so, has now scored in nine straight Serie A games.

The last player to do this? None other than David Trezeguet, so that puts Quagliarella in some very elite company. He needs two more games to match the 11 straight matches established by none other than Fiorentina legend Gabriel Batitusta, though, but with the form he has been in recently, don't bet against it. Sampdoria fans will hope that the mid-term pause won't interrput his excellent goal-scoring run as the team hope to challenge for a European spot at the end of the current campaign.

Chievo finally get a break-through

It took them 19 games, but Chievo finally got a victory! Emanuele Giaccherini's goal was enough to give the Flying Donkeys all three points against fellow relegation candidates Frosinone in a very tense battle, and while it was not enough to lift them off the bottom of the table, it gives them some hope heading into 2019. Chievo now have eight points, while Frosinone sit just two points ahead in 19th spot with ten points. They have some ways to go to catch Empoli, who are in 17th place on 16 points, but could this vital win be the turnaround the struggling side desperately need?

Juve set yet another record

Juventus were really fortunate to see Sampdoria's second equalizer cancelled, otherwise La Vecchia Signora would have dropped points for the third time this season. Massimiliano Allegri's men ended up ultimately winning their final game of 2018 2-1 thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's brace, and thus set a new points record for 19 games. No side has ever accumulated 53 points at this juncture. Simply put, that does not bode well for Napoli and all the other sides hoping to unseat Juve as the undisputed champions of Italy at the moment.

Meanwhile, who else but Cristiano Ronaldo to net Juventus's 100th goal of 2018 across all competitions?

Messi, Aguero...and Atalanta's Josip Ilicic are Europe's hat-trick kings in 2018

Messi and Aguero aren't the only ones who can score hat-tricks for fun, apparently. Did you know that:

December's been a GREAT month for Atalanta's Duvan Zapata

Prior to December, he had scored just one goal in Serie A all season!

And here's how the Capocannoniere chart concluded in 2018:

Cristiano Ronaldo, thanks to his brace against Sampdoria has finally overtaken Genoa's Piatek in the race for the Capocannoniere. The Polish strikerr had an impressive debut campaign in Serie A, though, and clearly will be keen on trying to keep his foot in the door once action resumes in 2019. Meanwhile, Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella has crept up the charts thanks to his brilliant goal-scoring run, and it looks set to be a very interesting battle in the second half of the season.