Juventus has advanced to the Coppa Italia final, despite Milan having scarcely put a hand on the Old Lady, who advanced according to the away-goal rule. Can Milan find a way to score in the remaining four minutes? Laxalt and Saelemaekers replace Calabria and Conti on the final toss of the dice for Milan. This is certainly not what coach Sinisa Mihajlovic wanted when he chose his side. However, it's difficult to complain about the result.
Milan will now have to play at least one more match than Juve if they are to have any chance of winning the tournament. That said, given that the game is being played at the Allianz Stadium (home of Juve), it's not impossible to imagine a scenario where both teams end up with zero points.
In fact, such was the state of affairs after the first round of matches had been played that nobody expected Milan to make it this far. They were seen as the underdogs from day one, especially since Juve had already won two titles this season. Despite all that, Alberto Brera's men managed to beat out their opponents 2-1 on aggregate score. The first match ended in a 1-1 draw while Luca Caldara scored an injury time goal to give Milan a crucial win.
It's all over! The Coppa Italia has been won by Juventus! The Old Lady closes the season with silverware courtesy to goals from Kulusevski and Chiesa, despite the fact that it was not at the top of their priority list.
The first game after the international break sees them face SPAL in a relegation six-pointer. With Roma and Lazio both still looking likely to survive, this is not an important match for either side but it does hold significant value if you are Juve or Torino. The Turin club have one final chance to secure a place in next year's Europa League via the play-offs and they will need to do so by beating SPAL - who are only three points above the drop zone - if they are to have any hope of qualifying. A loss here would be disastrous for their European hopes.
After this game Juventus have two more games before the end of the season: one against Sampdoria in the league and one against Verona in the cup. Both games are must wins if Juve are to have any chance of catching Roma and Lazio. If they do fail to win either of these games then they will have to hope that they perform better in the playoffs than they did last year when they lost in the quarter-finals to Atletico Madrid.
The Coppa Italia final drew a large crowd back to the stadium! On Wednesday evening, the Coppa Italia final will be held at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia. This is due to the fact that around 4,300 supporters (20% of the total capacity) will be present to see Juventus vs. Atalanta. The match is being played under floodlights because of the late timing of the game.
The Coppa Italia is Italy's oldest national cup competition and has been played every year since 1891 except during World War I and II. The final was not always held at the end of the season but instead either at the start or during the summer break. Since 2001, when Serie A started following a season-long league format, the Coppa Italia has ended each year with the title decider. Before this change, the Coppa Italia finished in mid-season every year.
The current holders of the Coppa Italia are Juventus who beat Roma 3-1 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1 after extra time. Before the penalty shootout, both teams had scored twice in the first half an hour on Tuesday night. However, it was not enough as Juve progressed to the final after three years.
The Coppa Italia final will be broadcast live on TV channel Sky Italia.
Milan finished third in the league, eleven points behind Juventus, but won the Coppa Italia. In the 2002-03 Serie A season, Juventus triumphed 2-1 at the Stadio delle Alpi on November 10, while Milan won the reverse meeting by the same scoreline at the San Siro. This is an unusual outcome as it can be seen as a joint victory for both teams since neither could claim top spot.
This result made it three consecutive seasons that Milan had beaten Juventus to win this cup. Previously, Filippo Grosso's side had defeated them to lift the trophy in the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons.
Since then, Milan have not been so successful, finishing no higher than fourth place over the next six seasons. However, during this period they did reach the European Cup/Europa League final twice with losses on each occasion. In 2009-10, they were beaten 3-0 by Liverpool at the San Siro. The following season, they were knocked out by Chelsea on away goals after a 1-1 draw at the San Siro.
Finally, in 2012-13, Milan regained their title with 100% record after winning all of their games in the league phase. They beat Palermo 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the San Siro to claim their sixth Coppa Italia.
These are the only two matches between these two great clubs during their seasons together.
They were subsequently joined by Milan in the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League, when they took part in the qualifying phase and final tournament of that season's competition. They were eliminated by Liverpool in the quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw at home and a 3-1 defeat on Merseyside.
The two teams ended their collaborations with each other at the end of the 2005-06 season, when Juventus signed Zlatan Ibrahimović from Ajax. The Swedish striker was instrumental in helping his new club to three consecutive Italian title wins from 2006 to 2008.
Meanwhile, Milan failed to win any trophy under José Mourinho, despite being crowned Italian champions for the second time in three years. The Portuguese manager had succeeded Carlo Ancelotti at Milan and led them to the European Cup in 2003 and the Coppa Italia in 2004.
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