Juventus are to face Inter in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia after beating SS Lazio 1-0 in Thursday’s final quarter-final.
Gleison Bremer headed home the decisive goal a minute before halftime when he beat Lazio goalkeeper Luis Maximiano to Filip Kostic’s cross.
The Brazilian’s second goal of the season won a tight contest in Turin and set up a two-legged semi-final against Juve’s biggest rivals Inter.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Victory and a clean sheet came after a 2-0 home defeat by promoted AC Monza last weekend which meant they had conceded 10 goals in their past three Serie A matches.
“You need the right tactics and play, but above all you need the right spirit,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “We were coming off that Monza defeat, so it wasn’t an easy situation for us ... now we’ve laid the foundations to recover our league form as well.”
April’s semi-final is crucial to Juventus’ season, as should they get past Inter, who beat Atalanta BC on Tuesday, they would be favorites to win the final in May against either ACF Fiorentina or US Cremonese.
Winning the Coppa Italia would qualify them for the UEFA Europa League and that is their most realistic route to continental competition next season after being hit with a 15-point penalty for illicit transfer activity last month.
Juventus are 14 points away from Serie A’s UEFA Europa League spots and a further point off the UEFA Champions League places.
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