The Italian Cup ... a month of rhythm to the last square
Milan will meet Turin on Tuesday at the opening of the Coppa Italia football final, which continues until the 21st of this month, three days after their confrontation in the local league.
The competition, whose title is held by Napoli, resumes in a pressing rhythm over a month, while the eight best teams in the last league start their participation in the final price, after they were spared from the third and fourth rounds in the fall.
As for Milan, the surprise leaders of the league with the approaching end of the first leg, and Turin, who is fighting to escape from the relegation zone, the league appears to be a priority for them, knowing that the last confrontation between them on Saturday at the "San Siro" stadium ended in favor of the Lombard team with the goals of the young Portuguese Rafael Liao and the specialist in penalty kicks Ivory Frank Kissier.
The two giants Juventus and Inter are preparing for their upcoming confrontation in the league next Sunday, when the first receives Genoa on Wednesday and the second will be hosted by Fiorentina.
After a remarkable series of victories that put him on equal footing with leaders Milan, Inter missed the victory in the last two matches in the league, which is running after their title since 2010 when they won the Champions League, losing at Sampdoria 1-2 and Roma leveled in the capital last Sunday in the last minutes (2--2) 2).
"At the end of the match, there is a certain fear in the face of an important result that pushes you back," said his coach Antonio Conte, who now trails 3 points behind Milan.
"We were able to kill the match, but we did not succeed," he added.
With the Inter team needing to regain confidence, Juventus' mission appears easier for Genoa.
However, coach Andrea Pirlo must deal with a squad that includes several players infected and affected by the emerging corona virus.
Pirlo said after his team’s 3-1 victory over Sassuolo, which saw Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo score his official goal number 759, equaling the Austrian-Czech number Joseph Pecan (1931-1955), "It was a difficult match. We managed it badly after our progress, but the most important thing was to win." Despite our somewhat bad organization. "
And Pirlo, whose team suffered their first defeat by Milan in the league last Wednesday 3-1, "it was important to continue to win, otherwise, Wednesday's match would not have been effective."
Napoli will kick off their title defense campaign on Wednesday at home against Empoli, one of two second-tier teams fighting for the final price.
The second team, SPAL, will come on Thursday to Sassuolo, seventh in the league, currently.
The quarter-final matches will be held on January 27 and the semi-finals (home and away) on February 3 and 10, while the finalists compete for the title on May 19.
Juventus, the league champion in the last nine seasons, holds the record for winning the cup title (13 times), ahead of Roma (9), Inter and Lazio (7), Fiorentina and Naples (6), Turin and Milan (5).
The final price program:
Tuesday:
Milan - Turin
Wednesday:
Fiorentina - Inter
Napoli - Empoli
Juventus - Genoa
Thursday:
Sassuolo - Spal
Atalanta - Cagliari
Tuesday, January 19:
Rome - Spezia (20:15)
Thursday January 21:
Lazio - Parma
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