Juventus v Lazio – Preview: Bianconeri eyeing first Coppa Italia in two decades against competition specialists

Date: 19th May 2015 at 5:40pm
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Juventus are set to face Lazio in the final of the 2015 Coppa Italia at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday night.

The Bianconeri are still in contention for the treble this season, having already won Serie A in addition to being in the final of both the Coppa Italia and the Champions League.

On the other hand, Lazio are competing for a place in next season’s Champions League. The Biancocelesti occupy the third and final spot which qualifies for the competition, three points clear of Napoli and one point off city-rivals Roma.

Both sides are definitely no strangers to the competition. Six-time champions Lazio have won the Coppa Italia five times in the past 17 years, with the last coming in 2013. While Juve haven’t won it since 1995, they hold the record for most Coppa Italia honours won alongside Roma with nine titles.

Juventus and Lazio’s respective paths to the final were pretty similar, overturning a first leg semi-final disappointment. The Biancocelesti drew 1-1 at home to reigning champions Napoli before winning 1-0 in the second leg in Naples, whilst Juventus miraculously overturned a 2-1 first leg home defeat to Fiorentina by winning 3-0 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Recent meetings between the duo have seen an obvious Bianconeri advantage, who have won five of the past six meetings. An even more staggering statistic is that all of them have seen Juve win by a difference of two or more goals.

Even though La Vecchia Signora have the obvious advantage when it comes to recent meetings, Lazio actually won the last Coppa Italia tie between both teams, emerging victorious in the two-legged semi-final encounter back in January 2013 – winning 3-2 on aggregate.

Massimiliano Allegri’s men will have to do without both Alvaro Morata who was sent off in the semi-final second leg against Fiorentina, and Claudio Marchisio due to the accumulation of bookings. Kwadwo Asamoah and Martin Caceres will miss the final due to respective injuries.

On the other hand, Lazio coach Stefano Pioli will not miss anyone due to suspension but injuries rule out the trio of Lorik Cana, Ederson, and Lucas Biglia.

Form guide: Juventus (W-D-D-W-W-W), Lazio (W-L-D-W-D-L)

Expected Starting XIs

Juventus: Storari; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Pogba, Pirlo, Sturaro; Vidal; Llorente, Tevez.

Lazio: Marchetti; Basta, De Vrij, Mauricio, Radu; Parolo, Ledesma, Lulic; Candreva, Klose, Felipe Anderson.

 

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