Maurizio Sarri takes on his former club SSC Napoli today in the Coppa Italia final looking for his first trophy as Juventus coach days before Serie A resumes after a three-month shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Juventus are chasing a record-extending 14th Coppa Italia against five-time winners Napoli in Rome, after the Turin giants’ four-year Coppa-winning streak was ended last season.
Sarri took over at Juventus one year ago after a season with Chelsea during which the English Premier League side won the UEFA Europa League.
Photo: Reuters
Before that the 61-year-old spent three seasons at Napoli, battling Juventus for the title, before falling out with club owner Aurelio de Laurentiis.
Sarri said that he only found out he had been sacked and replaced by Carlo Ancelotti when he switched on the TV.
De Laurentiis blasted his former coach on Monday.
“He [Sarri] betrayed me, he left with the vulgar excuse of money, forced me to change, and still had a two-year contract,” De Laurentiis told Corriere dello Sport.
Sarri’s return to Napoli’s Stadio San Paolo ended in a 2-1 league defeat in January, but he has a chance to win just the second trophy of his 30-year coaching career at an empty Stadio Olimpico.
A win would help the eight-time defending Serie A champions set the tone when the title battle resumes next week, with SS Lazio just one point behind in second place.
Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain, who helped Napoli to their last Coppa Italia win in 2013-2014 and was Serie A’s top scorer with 36 goals under Sarri in the 2015-2016 season, remains a doubt for the Turin side with a thigh injury.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed a penalty in Friday last week’s semi-final second leg against AC Milan, is to start up front for Juventus, while Napoli winger Dries Mertens is fresh from breaking the club’s all-time scoring record in their semi-final second leg against Inter.
Ronaldo, who has scored 25 goals this season, can lift a 30th career trophy in Rome.
“The missed penalty was unfortunate,” Sarri said. “It will take a little patience. The players have been on their sofas for weeks, and so getting them back to complete physical and mental efficiency is not simple or automatic.”
Napoli are sixth in Serie A after a difficult start to the season, with coach Gennaro Gattuso replacing Ancelotti in December last year.
The last time the two teams met in a final was the Supercoppa Italiana in December 2014, with Napoli coming out on top.
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