28 February 2017
Crossing paths in the cup
Tonight’s will be the 10th ever Coppa Italia match between Juventus and Napoli and it’s the Bianconeri who just edge the previous meetings, winning four, drawing two and losing three.
It’s been a far more one-sided battle when playing in Turin with Juve unbeaten in four encounters (three wins and a draw), scoring five and conceding zero goals in the process.
Indeed, the Azzurri have not been happy travellers to Juventus Stadium, losing all six of their games there, netting just twice and letting in 14 at the other end.
Napoli, however, got the better of the current Coppa Italia holders in the 2012 final, winning 2-0 in Rome – the last time they faced one another in the competition.
Route to the semi-finals
Juventus have twice beaten Serie A opposition in the shape of Atalanta and Milan in order to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals and both games were characterised by building two-goal leads before the break and subsequently seeing out the respective contests in the second half.
In the last 16 tie against Atalanta, Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic combined brilliantly for each other’s goals to put the Bianconeri 2-0 up at the interval and that’s the way it looked the match would finish until a hectic nine-minute period towards the end saw Abdoulay Konko and Emmanuel Latte Lath twice reduce the deficit either side of Miralem Pjanic’s 75th-minute penalty.
In the following round at home to the Rossoneri, Dybala’s sharp, right-footed drive and Pjanic’s pinpoint free-kick put Juve two goals to the good and in control after just 21 minutes. Carlos Bacca pulled one back for the visitors after the break, but the hosts had too much for ten-man Milan, who saw Manuel Locatelli receive his marching orders moments after Bacca’s strike.
Meanwhile, Napoli’s Coppa Italia journey began with a home tie against Serie B side Spezia, who they overcame 3-1 thanks to goals by Piotr Zielinski (after only three minutes), Emanuele Giaccherini and Manolo Gabbiadini – currently playing for English Premier League club Southampton. The visitors had levelled the scores on 35 minutes through Antonio Piccolo.
Their quarter-final, also played at the San Paolo, would be a tighter affair, coming up against Serie A rivals Fiorentina and the contest was eventually decided by José Callejon’s goal after 71 minutes.
The main men
Dybala and Pjanic are Juve’s most in-form players in the Coppa Italia this term, scoring two goals each, but they won’t be the only men on Napoli’s minds heading into tonight’s match.
Gonzalo Higuain spent three seasons with the Azzurri until switching to Juventus last summer and Pipita ended up scoring the winner against his former employers in the 2-1 league victory back in October.
José Callejon is Napoli’s most consistent performer in the Coppa Italia in the three-and-a-half-year period since joining them. Nobody has scored more than the Spaniard’s five goals in that timeframe.
Dries Mertens, meanwhile tops the Azzurri’s scoring charts across all competitions (16 goals), with Marek Hamsik behind him on 10. The Slovakian midfielder has a habit of finding the net against Juventus, doing so five times in his Napoli career to date.
