After more than three months, football finally came back to Italy with Charmy Coppa Italia. After qualifying on their semifinals, Juventus and Napoli faced each other this Wednesday at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. After a goalless draw in regular time, the match went to the penalties, which the Azzurri won by 4-2 and guarantee their 6th title of the Competition.
The Old Lady had more ball possession basically during the entire first half. They scared Azzurri’s fans when Paulo Dybala intercepted a pass inside the box and passed to Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the Portuguese stopped in a great save from goalkeeper Alex Meret.
After that, Juventus didn’t create much and had basically no other chance to bring danger to their opponents. Napoli, on the other hand, were focusing on counter-attacks and failures from the Bianconeri’s players. Their first good opportunity came with Lorenzo Insigne, in a free-kick, however, the ball hit the post.
The blitz from the Neapolitan side continued after that and they almost broke the deadlock with Diego Demme, who took advantage of a rebound. However, the German was stopped by the great save of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. And the experienced archer, who was the highlight of the first half also saved Juventus again in the first half to keep the scoring goalless.
The second half started with both sides looking for control. With that, the match was being played mostly in the midfield or the defensive system, with no real chances of attack. After some changes on the squad, Napoli started having more chances, obligating Buffon to appear again and show why he is one of the best goalkeepers ever.
With the goalless draw, the match went to the extra time, where once again Buffon stopped Napoli’s attack, avoiding the goals and taking the decision to penalty shots. The Old Lady started the shots and Dybala lost the first one, with goalkeeper Alex Meret making the save. Insigne converted Napoli’s first and things just got worse to Juve when Danilo sent the ball wide. After that, all the penalties were converted and the final scoring was Napoli 4-2 Juventus.
It was Gennaro Gattuso’s first title with Napoli, who got their 6th Coppa Italia. Both teams now will focus on Serie A TIM, which will return next week. Napoli will visit Hellas Verona, while Juventus will visit Bologna.