Napoli Lift coppa italia trophy after scoreless draw
By Schwartz
Well, that certainly wasn’t the Coppa Italia finale we expected, as Napoli took down Juventus 4-2 on penalties after another 0-0 deadlock for Sarri’s men. In what promised to be an exciting chapter in Italy’s return to competitive football, two of Europe’s most explosive attacking groups combined for a grand total of zero goals. In the rarest of occurrences, Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t show up at all for a big game, and looked lethargic all the way through, and to further contribute to the weirdness, Gigi Buffon didn’t stop a single shot in the penalty shootout that eventually saw Napoli crowned champions of Italy’s biggest tournament. To his credit, the 42-year-old veteran was in vintage form for the 90 minutes of regulation, making stop after stop to keep his side in the game, preserving the 0-0 deadlock with a sensational stop just before the half, and again thwarting Napoli’s last-gasp 90th minute effort with a brilliant double-save, which ended with the ball smashing off of the post and into a hasty Juve clearance. It’s not unfair to say that Juve was lucky to even make it to penalties, and Napoli was largely held scoreless due to the efforts of the legendary Italian netminder. Napoli’s own keeper, Alex Meret, turned away perhaps Juve’s best effort by the net early and was solid at the back throughout regulation and into the penalty shootout, where he smartly turned away Paulo Dybala’s opening kick and set the tone for Napoli’s eventual victory.
Italian football, which usually includes some of the most tactically creative and exciting European teams to watch, has been disappointing thus far in its Coppa Italia return, as the second semifinal legs and final produced scores of 0-0, 1-1, and 0-0. This has been partially the product of strong defending, namely the inspired work of Napoli center-back Kalidou Koulibaly in tonight’s match, but offensive futility is just as culpable for the low scores, if not more. Star forwards have been injured and either out or less than fully effective, or simply out of form, as was the unfortunate case with Ronaldo himself in a second consecutive Cup letdown at his new Italian club. Paulo Dybala was similarly ineffective - he played a couple of nice balls forward and showed his signature flash on the dribble, but was unable to create anything meaningful, and seemed visibly frustrated at times. The altered substitution rules were on full display in Rome today, as Napoli took advantage of all 5 potential subs, including Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik, who eventually struck home the winner in penalties. It was a messy game throughout, but still, a wonderful moment for Napoli’s club, fans, and manager, as Gennaro Gattuso earned the right to bring the first piece of trophy of his tenure back to Stadio San Paulo.
Napoli, who have struggled in Serie A this season amidst financial issues, will be thrilled to add a piece of silverware to the trophy case as it is a huge victory for club prestige and morale. The tournament title also secures their place in next season’s Europa League - a small prize in some respects, but one that was not otherwise guaranteed as they hold a very precarious position in 6th place in the table. They will hope to maintain their strength at the back - and find their form in attack - when they take on Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 matchup after a 1-1 deadlock at home in the first leg. After this disappointment, Juventus will have to continue to fight to maintain their place in the Serie A table, where they lead 2nd place, Lazio, by just a point, and trail by a wide margin in goal differential, which could prove to be a key tiebreaker. They, too, have more to fight for in Europe, as they shockingly trail Lyon after the first leg of their Champions League tie, way back in February. The conclusion to that matchup will come in early August. Both teams have positives to take away from this matchup - namely defensive ones - and things to work on - namely offensive ones. They will need to find their best form if they’re going to achieve their domestic and European goals throughout the remainder of this bizarre, fan-free, pandemic-altered campaign.
