Coppa Italia: The Old Lady’s Thirst for Revenge  

Juventus vs Lazio

Three days after they clashed in Serie A, Juventus and Lazio are ready to get it on again in a Coppa Italia first leg clash at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.

Lazio beat Juventus 1-0 in Igor Tudor’s first game as Lazio manager on Saturday and that may give them a physiological edge. But Juventus is a proud team which is suffering a difficult period at the moment, and smacking the Romans on Tuesday will be at the forefront of their minds over the next 48 hours.   

The first leg is in Turin and then they return to Lazio on the 23^rd April, and Juventus manager Max Allegri will have his team primed and ready to take a first leg advantage. But he needs to lift a group of players low on confidence, without a win in four games.

Atalanta and Fiorentina are in the other semi-final but the latest Coppa Italia 2024 betting odds reckon the celebrations will be in Turin or Rome at the climax and the winner of this tie will certainly be in the pole position.   

In Serie A, Inter Milan are in a league of their own and the rest are battling for European places and that’s not a position I Bianconeri fans are happy with.

But some silverware might just cheer them up.    

Talking Points

Lazio edge the dress rehearsal  

Former Olympique Marseilles manager Tudor was appointed as head coach of Lazio after the shock resignation of Maurizio Sarri when the team lost 2-1 at home to struggling Udinese. And Tudor started with a win on Saturday as defender Adam Murisic grabbed an injury time winner to send the Lazio Ultras crazy. It was no more than the hosts deserved after they dominated possession with 65 per cent of the ball, and won the shot counts by 16 to nine and four to three on target. 

I Bianconeri can say goodbye to any hopes of winning the Scudetto, though they had their chances to break the deadlock long before Murisic popped up with the last gasp winner. Federico Chiesa and Andrea Cambiaso both came close for the Old Lady while Taty Castellanos missed two good chances for the hosts. 

Lazio, who have endured a frustrating campaign, are up to seventh in the Serie A table and eight points behind the Champions League places. They will now look to kick on in both league and cup to secure European football again next season.       

The Key Players  

Let’s take a look at the stars who can win this game and make some Coppa Italia 2024 highlights along the way.   

My SBOTOP pal Keith recently said the Old Lady is on crutches and I can’t disagree with him; so they need some real leadership on the pitch and where better to start than with captain Danilo. The Brazilian right back leads by example. He is a non stop runner and a brilliant defender while also being a threat in attack with his passing range and delivery into the danger area. He can play as a right winger and if the Old Lady is chasing the game Danilo will support the attack, though he is equally comfortable in a defensive midfield position if his team needs to pack the centre of the pitch.

That’s a position normally occupied by Manuel Locatelli and the 26 year old is sure to start on Tuesday, and he will be a key man in the battle for midfield supremacy. Locatelli plays the Andrea Pirlo position, sitting just in front of the defence and uses his positional strength and distribution to put his foot on the ball and launch attacks. He can play in a more advance role but on Tuesday he is likely to link up with the more advanced Adrien Rabiot.      

Lazio will carry a threat through the prolific Ciro Immobile alongside Japan attacking midfielder Daichi Kamada, with former West Ham United winger Felipe Anderson supplying the ammunition.

29 year old captain Danilo Cataldi has been at Lazio since 2013 and he will aim to win the midfield battle against Locatelli, while former Milan centre back Alessio Romagnoli will have a busy night, marshalling the visitors’ defence.

History

Juve are the Coppa Italia’s most successful club with 14 wins and seven runners up medals. They were champions in 2021 and runners up in 2022. And Lazio are up amongst the Coppa royalty too, with seven wins, the last in 2019 and the Romans have runners up medals. .  

Lazio haven’t won away to Juventus in seven attempts but they come into the game with their tails up and slightly better form, with three wins and thee losses from the last six games while Juve have won one drawn three and lost two.    

Betting Tip

At odds of 1.77, Juventus are backed to end their current misery at the expense of Lazio, and grab some revenge in the process. But this will be another tough battle and, while I can see Juve edging the first leg, a draw at odds of 3.09 is right in the game too.

 

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