On the back of a slight first leg advantage, Juventus hosted Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium for the second leg of the Coppa Italia Semi Finals. The home side managed to score a goal in each half to cruise past their rivals and set up a Grand Finale against Inter on May 11.
Max Allegri opted for a 4-3-3 formation, spearheaded by former Viola hero Dusan Vlahovic. The bomber was supported by Alvaro Morata and Federico Bernardeschi on the flanks while Danilo operated as a holding midfielder in-between Denis Zakaria and Adrien Rabiot.
? ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜱᴇᴍɪ-ꜰɪɴᴀʟ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛɪɴɢ xɪ ?⚪⚫
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On the other hand, Vincenzo Italiano maintained his usual 4-3-3 formation. Arthur Cabral led the attack flanked by Jonathan Ikoné and Nicolas Gonzalez. In the absence of the injured Jack Bonaventura and Gaetano Castrovilli, Riccardo Saponara and Alfred Duncan joined Lucas Torreira in the middle the park.
Naturally, the visitors started on a higher tempo as they were the ones chasing the match. Although they had the ball for the majority of the first 15 minutes, it was the hosts who created the first real chance of the match with a counter attack led by Rabiot. Morata picked up Vlahovic who broke the offside trap, but his shot was denied by Bart Dragoswski.
A brilliant through ball put Vlahovic clear on goal, but Dragowski rushed out out his goal to meet his former teammate. The latter looked undecided and couldn’t put his shot past the big Polish goalkeeper.
After 32 minutes of play, Juventus broke the deadlock thanks a former Fiorentina player. Rabiot won back the ball with a major interception allowing Danilo to launch a counter attack. Dragowski tried to push out Morata’s cross but failed to reach the ball. Cristiano Biraghi cleared it with his head, only to reach Bernardeschi who smashed it home with a chest-and-volley.
In the final minutes of the first half, the Tuscans had two half-chances through Cabral and Ikoné but were respectively denied by Mattia Perin and Leonardo Bonucci, as the halftime whistle signaled a two-goal lead for the Old Lady on aggregate.
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The second half started with Fiorentina maintaining pressure, but Perin pulled off a marvelous save on a deflected header from the corner kick.
Neverhtless, the Bianconeri kept threatening on the counter-attacks. Mattia De Sciglio found Vlahovic, and the striker picked up Zakaria who tried his luck from a tight angle. His effort crashed against the woodwork.
At the 70th minute, Juventus thought they put the match to bed with a second goal, but VAR disallowed it as Rabiot was found marginally offside before finishing off the play.
At a time when Fiorentina were desperate for a goal, it was Juventus who doubled their lead a minute before the final whistle as Juan Cuadrado stormed into the penalty box from the right flank to pick up Danilo with a sublime pass. The Brazilian put his foot through it and managed to find the bottom corner.
Therefore, the Bianconeri’s confident display saw them winning 2-0 in the second leg and 3-0 on aggregate to set up fiery Derby d’Italia against Inter in the tournament’s final.
.@juventusfcen reaches the #CoppaItaliaFrecciarossa's final! ✅ ?#JuveFiorentina #WeAreCalcio pic.twitter.com/YEkFPDXk91
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