Juventus are the first team to advance to the Coppa Italia 2020-2021 Final after they held Inter to a goalless draw at the Allianz Stadium on Tuesday night.
Andrea Pirlo’s Bianconeri had already reserved their spot into the last act one week ago as they toppled their opponents 1-2 at the San Siro. The Nerazzurri had a though task ahead if they wanted to overcome the deficit but never seemed capable of causing Pirlo’s boys any serious problem tonight.
Juventus controlled the game with ease and even went closer than Inter to break the balance, but Samir Handanovic saved the honor for his side saving from Cristiano Ronaldo when the Portuguese went one-on-one with him in the second half.
Antonio Conte surely showed he was up for the fight as he deployed an almost ideal lineup in line with his credo – with Achraf Hakimi and Matteo Darmian acting as wing-backs and Christian Eriksen deployed as a mezzala next to Marcelo Brozovic. On the front line, the LuLa promised sparks but wouldn’t end up delivering much.
Andrea Pirlo answered with a 4-4-2 where Dejan Kulusevski supported Cristiano Ronaldo in the attack. As expected, Juve’s plan was resorting to ball possession and keeping the match pace low. As a consequence, the first half was a pretty cage affair that only Hakimi’s accelerations from the right flank tried to ignite.
Neither Romelu Lukaku nor Lautaro Martinez seemed to be in one of their best nights, as the Belgian failed to connect with the ball from an Eriksen set piece and El Toro equally missed to convert from point-blank range in one of Inter’s sporadic offensive blitzes. Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, was vigilant as usual and before the break forced Handanovic to deny him with his feet.
Conte waited a few minutes after the restart to make his first tactical move: He sent in Ivan Perisic for Matteo Darmian to increase his offensive options. But Pirlo replied by throwing Weston McKennie in the mix and the American promptly put his stamp on the game as he set Ronaldo free to go one-on-one with Handanovic. The Slovenian goalkeeper was monumental in the occasion and saved the Portuguese’s shot from point blank range.
CR7 continued to dispense sample of his skills and, on 70 minutes, he dribbled past Milan Skriniar and Nicolò Barella with a magic trick before whipping the ball towards Inter’s goal – finding once again Handanovic alert.
Andrea Pirlo eventually covered himself by substituting Juan Cuadrado with Giorgio Chiellini but it looked like an excess of caution. Inter never seemed able to trouble Gianluigi Buffon, who left the pitch with his sheet and his gloves clean and led Juventus to their 20th Coppa Italia Final in their history at 43 years of age.
The Bianconeri will need to wait tomorrow to know the name of their opponents in the domestic cup final showdown, as Napoli and Atalanta will square off again after a nil-nil tie from one week ago.
MATCH REPORT
February 9, 2021 – Coppa Italia 2020-21 Semi Finals
JUVENTUS-INTER 0-0 (Juventus advance 2-1 on aggregate)
 |
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon; Danilo, De Ligt, Demiral, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado (82′ Chiellini), Bentancur, Rabiot, Bernardeschi (62′ McKennie); Cristiano Ronaldo, Kulusevski (87′ Chiesa) (Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Bonucci, Di Pardo, Dragusin, Frabotta, Morata, Peeters) Coach: Pirlo |
 |
INTER (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni (65′ Kolarov); Hakimi, Brozovic, Barella, Eriksen (65′ Sensi), Darmian (58′ Perisic); Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez (Padelli, Radu, D’Ambrosio, Gagliardini, Pinamonti, Ranocchia, Vecino, Young) Coach: Conte |
REFEREE: Mr. Mariani from Aprilia
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Alex Sandro (J), Darmian, Perisic, Brozovic (I); Extra Time: 1st Half 0′, 2nd Half 4′