Juventus and Napoli have met 11 times in the Coppa Italia prior to this week’s Final in Rome and the historic clash goes down in history as a tight affair.
Only once have the two sides previously met in a Coppa Italia Final, with Napoli winning the 2011-12 edition in Rome, thanks to goals by Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik.
But this week’s big match is no stranger to the footballing world, even in the Coppa Italia, the history stretches back to the round of 16 in 1936-37. Usually an unpredictable tie, with Juventus winning six and Napoli five.
The last cup tie between the two ended in a 3-2 win for Napoli in the semi-finals in 2016-17, but Juventus went through on aggregate after having won the first leg at home by 3-1 and helped by the brace by Gonzalo Higuain against his former club.
Lorenzo Insigne, Arek Milik, Jose Callejon, Piotr Zielinski, Elsejd Hysaj, Kalidou Koulibaly and Faouzi Ghoulam were in the starting line-up on the day, whilst Dries Mertens came on to score the winner as Allan also stepped off the bench.
A handful of the names are in contention to start against the Old Lady this weekend, who still have Higuain in their side.
Alex Sandro, Leo Bonucci, Juan Cuadrado, Sami Khedira and Paulo Dybala started the last Coppa Italia meeting with Napoli at the San Paolo too.
Juventus have reached 19 Coppa Italia Finals throughout history, more than any other club, and face a Partenopei side who have only conceded an average of 0.25 goals per game in the competition this season, giving the match a tight outlook.
The Bianconeri have kept nine clean sheets in their last 12 matches in the Italian Cup, only losing once against Atalanta last season.
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Maurizio Sarri would become the second oldest Italian coach to win the Coppa Italia, only younger than Nereo Rocco, who picked up the crown when Milan beat Inter 2-0 in the Final.
Napoli can take confidence from their previous Finals and never give up, as 72 per cent of their goals in the decisive matches have come in the second half (13 out of 18), such as when Mertens scored in stoppage time against Fiorentina in 2014.