19 June 2015
Just days after shattering their San Paolo hoodoo in style with a 3-1 victory away at Napoli, the Bianconeri then turned their attentions to the 2014/15 Coppa Italia campaign, looking to secure a tenth success in the competition.
Hellas Verona travelled to Turin to provide the first opposition at the last 16 stage midway through January, but were unable to pull off a cup upset as they were swept aside 6-1 at Juventus Stadium.
Sebastian Giovinco, who would leave for MLS outfit FC Toronto in early February, opened the scoring on five minutes when he converted a splendid free-kick from the edge of the area that gave Rafael no chance in the Gialloblu goal.
The second arrived a quarter of an hour later, Roberto Pereyra nudging the ball past covering defender Guillermo Rodriguez before deftly clipping home his maiden strike in the black and white stripes.
And despite the visitors probing for a way back into the game, the result was all but sealed on the stroke of half-time when Giovinco tapped in Stephan Lichtsteiner’s cutback from close range.
HALF-TIME: #JuveVerona 3-0. #Giovinco's double and #Pereyra give us a three-goal cushion at the midway point of tonight's last 16 tie.
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 15, 2015
Buoyed by their 3-0 advantage, Massimiliano Allegri’s men went in search of more goals and got their reward on 53 minutes, Paul Pogba receiving the ball in the box before nudging his effort over the line following an audacious dummy on the goalkeeper.
Hellas bagged a consolation through Nene who poked the ball in from close range four minutes later, only for Alvaro Morata to then lash home a penalty to make it 5-1 after Giovinco had been felled in the area.
Five soon became six when the newly-entered Kingsley Coman lifted the roof off Juventus Stadium with a spectacular long-range strike that cannoned off the underside of the bar and in from the edge of the area on 79 minutes.
Smiles all round as the Bianconeri salute the fans following this evening's six-goal showing! #JuveVerona #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/una8Aswftz
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 15, 2015
The Old Lady then played out the final stages with consummate ease, setting up a quarter-final clash against old rivals Parma at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in the process.
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Hellas soon returned to Turin a few days later, providing the final Serie A competitor of the first half of the season as they endeavoured to prevent the Bianconeri train from charging on.
Andrea Mandorlini’s charges, however, looked they were on the cusp of another mauling when both Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez struck exceptional efforts in the opening seven minutes to put the hosts 2-0 in front.
.@paulpogba's purple patch in front of goal continues courtesy of a #Pogboom from range. 1-0 the score in #JuveVerona pic.twitter.com/arhxybj9Hg
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 18, 2015
Chances continued to come the Old Lady’s way in the second half, with Pereyra bagging his second in as many games versus the Gialloblu when he latched on to Giorgio Chiellini’s splendid through ball before curling home.
The scoring was then rounded off by Tevez who collected Claudio Marchisio’s pass, turned into space and then nutmegged Rafael with a crisp finish into the corner to put further gloss onto a spectacular victory.
As January began to draw to a close, Chievo, the first opponent the Bianconeri came up against on the opening day, arrived at Juventus Stadium looking to stifle the hosts’ attacking prowess.
And Rolando Maran’s troops succeeded in doing so for the first half, only for Paul Pogba to inspire Juventus to overcome the Gialloblu with a virtuoso second-half display.
The Frenchman first produced a trademark gem from outside the area to break the relegation-threatened visitors’ resistance on 60 minutes, shifting past his marker before striking a left-footed strike beyond Albano Bizzarri for his fourth goal in as many games.
GOAL! #JuveChievo 1-0. He's done it again! A fierce @paulpogba #Pogboom into the bottom corner earns us the lead!
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 25, 2015
Fourteen minutes later, it was two. After Pogba had performed an outrageous piece of skill to pluck substitute Simone Padoin’s pass from the air, he crashed a volley that was saved by Bizzarri, with Lichtsteiner arriving on the scene to slam home at the far post.
It was a clear case of job done as the Bianconeri held on to claim a deserved triumph and second successive clean sheet, and subsequently open up a seven-point lead over closest rivals Roma who drew away at Fiorentina.
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