“The Old Lady” from Turin is set to “welcome” the symbolic guests from Lazio, exactly on their “Stadio Olimpico” in Rome, where Juventus and Lazio will meet in the Coppa Italia 2014-2015 final. This will be a general preparation of both sides for the upcoming fixtures which are related with the same event, but in different ways – UEFA Champions League, for where Juventus have already secured their place in the next season, as “I Bianconeri” won their fourth successive “Scudetto” and they are just playing the rest of the Serie A season, where Massimiliano Allegri’s men have two upcoming games, which are settled for right before one of the most awaited events in the football not only in Europe, but worldwide – The Champions League final, where Juventus will travel for “Olympiastadion” in Berlin, as “The Old Lady” cut the ambitions of the Spanish clubs for another “El Clasico” edition, this time in the Champions League final game. Massimiliano Allegri was adopted as Antonio Conte’s replacement with some doubts, but he definitely did his work fine, as he met with the usual high expectations for every Juventus coach. The tactical battle in the Champions League semi-finals was a vital moment for his career at “Juventus Stadium”, since Allegri won the clash against his compatriot in charge of the last year’s Champions League winner Real Madrid – Carlo Ancelotti, and we can justify that Allegri’s approach in both games was well played, so now “The Old Lady” will have great opportunity for a treble. The first step for achieving that dream was already done, since we already mentioned that Juventus retained the Serie A trophy, while the next step must be taken in Wednesday evening, when “I Bianconeri” will have very difficult task – to face against Lazio at their own “Olimpico” in the Italian capital.
“The Eagles” from Rome will return at their home as a symbolic guests, which will be another important game for Stefano Pioli’s side, who just came from an important success in Genoa, where Lazio won with 1:0 over Sampdoria in Saturday evening. That win was very important for Lazio’s Serie A positioning and it came exactly in the right moment because “I Biancocelesti” will have to defend their top 3 position, which can award them with Champions League football next season, but this mainly depends on their final positioning – 2nd place means straight qualification for the group phase of the tournament, while the 3rd position (which they currently hold) will secure them a position in the Champions League play-offs. It’s quite interesting that Lazio’s schedule provides a great opportunity for “The Eagles” to defend their position up in the sky, since Lazio have two remaining “Calcio” matches, in which Lazio must show their best efforts. First of all, right after the Coppa Italia final, Lazio will stay at home, where in Monday afternoon we will have one from the most important editions of “Derby della Capitale” in the last years, as Lazio and Roma will meet in a direct battle for the 2nd position in Serie A, while in the last 38th round Lazio will have to travel for the South, where Stefano Pioili’s men will have to deal with the fourth placed team of Napoli, who waits for a possible mistake by both capital city clubs. Very busy schedule for “The Eagles” exactly in the closing weeks of the season and in such a moment we will see how prepared are they for a long flight, like in the current season.
Final conclusion, betting prediction, betting bonus and possible starting lineups for the Coppa Italia 2014-2015 final
Juventus and Lazio will play their third meeting in season 2014-2015 as “The Old Lady” won in the previous two – 2:0 in Turin and 3:0 in Rome, as the last clash at “Olimpico” remains their most recent meeting and it was only a month ago. Carlos Tevez and Leonardo Bonucci were the goalscorers for the “Bianconeri” in that game and now these two players will have their vital roles in the upcoming Italian Cup final.
Juventus is one from the two most successful sides in the competition, where Juventus and Roma share the first position by won trophies, as they both have won the Italian Cup 9 times, but Roma took part in 17 finals, while Juventus contested in 15. However the last Coppa Italia trophy in Juventus’ showcase remains back in the history, as “The Old Lady” have won the Cup exatyly 20 years ago – in season 1994-1995, when Juventus won in a two-legged matchup against Parma, who were with names like Luca Bucci, Fernando Couto, Antonio Benarrivo, Roberto Sensini, Dino Baggio, Stefano Fiore, Tomas Brolin, Gianfranco Zola in their suqad. Anyway, the final outcome of the Coppa Italia 1995 final ended with a 3–0 win on aggregate (1:0 at their “Stadio delle Alpi” and with 2:0 at “Ennio Tardini”), as Sergio Porrini scored in both games. This was the answer of “The Old Lady” for the UEFA Cup final defeat in previous month (May), where Parma won in another two-legged matchup between both sides. Twenty years later both teams have quite different destinies – Juventus will return on a major European final and they will chase the treble as well, while Parma relegated to Serie B…
Lazio is one from the most successful sides in Coppa Italia as well, and “The Eagles” can be very proud from their 6 trophies from that competition, as we must mention that 5 from them were won after the last trophy of Juventus here – in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2009, 2013, as the first one from them was back in the days – 1958. Last year Lazio slipped at the quarter-final stage, where “I Biancocelesti” were defeated by the future champion Napoli, but one year later Lazio took their revenge against “The Little Donkeys” from Naples, as Lazio eliminated Napoli in the previous Coppa Italia round – 1:1 in Rome, and a minimal win at the enemy’s ground – 1:0 win at “Stadio San Paolo”. The goalscorer in that game was Senad Lulic, who scored the winning goal against Roma in the Coppa Italia 2013 final, when Lazio win in another big game – 1:0 over the city rivals Roma, which was preceded by a semi-final victory over “The Old Lady” in one very dramatic two-legged matchup – 1:1 in Turin, and a 2:1 Lazio success in the second leg, where Lazio were leading with 1:0 until the 92nd minute, when Arturo Vidal scored a late equalizer and it was obvious that the game will go to an additional time, but Sergio Floccari has scored only one minute after Vidal’s goal, which was the winning goal for Lazio.
Two years after the last mentioned game Coppa Italia tie between Juventus and Lazio, the Serie A champion is hungry for success and we’re quite sure that Massimiliano Allegri is willing to write his name next to the name of Marcello Lippi, who could achieve the treble as well, but the previously mentioned UEFA Cup final defeat against Parma was the reason only for a “double”. Twenty years after Lippi’s attempt, Allegri can do the work and we believe that all of the “Bianconeri” are ready for the challenge, as huge part of the players was rested in the weekend 2:1 win over Inter, in Milan. Claudio Marchisio and Alvaro Morata were two of the first team players that took part at the clash on “Stadio Giuseppe Meazza”, and exactly their goals were crucial for Juventus’ victory. The reason why Allegri picked these two in his starting lineup, only few days after the exhausting Champions League semifinal in Madrid, was because they both will miss the final in Rome, since Álvaro Morata was sent-off in the closing minutes during the 3:0 win over Fiorentina, while Claudio Marchisio became a victim of the yellow card accumulation. However, Paul Pogba’s return and the midfield quality of Juventus are our main reasons for picking them as a possible tournament winner here. Only on the day after Andrea Pirlo’s 36th birthday. The same date, 19th of May, marks another anniversary – 5 years since Andrea Agnelli became president of Juventus and this can be Agnelli’s best year so far.
Juventus to win – odds are good enough and if we consider the fact that that’s the last real challenge for “The Old Lady” before the Champions League final, and that Juventus already missed one domestic cup – Supercoppa Italiana, we believe that this time the team from Turin will celebrate.
Stefano Pioli on his turn can’t count to the injured Lorik Cana, Ederson and Lucas Biglia, while the good news in Lazio’s staff room are that the defender Stefan de Vrij is back, while the first choice goalkeeper Federico Marchetti and the central defender Mauricio are set for return, as they both missed the weekend success in Genoa, since they were both sent-off during the 1:2 defeat from Inter in the previous Serie A round.
Possible starting XI:
Juventus: Buffon – Evra, Chiellini, Bonucci, Lichtsteiner – Pogba, Pirlo, Pereyra – Vidal – Tevez, Llorente. (4-3-1-2)
Lazio: Marchetti – Radu, Mauricio, de Vrij, Basta – Cataldi, Parolo, Ledesma – Anderson, Candreva, Klose. (4-3-3)
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