COPPA ITALIA – Juventus 0-2 Napoli – No Fairy-Tale Ending for ADP…

Lifting their first trophy since 1987, Napoli denied Juventus the joy of Scudetto/Cup double on Sunday at the Stadio Olimpico of Rome. This 0-2 Coppa Italia loss also stops the Bianconeri one match short of a completely unbeaten season, but it was evident – from the very first whistle – that the team did not step onto the pitch with the same kind of “hunger” and determination we all witnessed the rest of the year, and which drove them to this fantastic Scudetto-winning season. “You can’t win them all”, as they say…

It was also Del Piero’s night. The iconic captain was unable to lead his team to a further victory, but brought to a close a fantastic career with Juventus. ADP closes his playing account with 705 appearances for the Old Lady, a splendid achievement that will forever be remembered alongside all that Pinturicchio has given the club and us tifosi Juventini.

Right from the kick-off Napoli started strongly, dominating the first ten minutes with a positive/aggressive approach and a 3-5-2 formation that matched Juve’s. Zuniga (headed chance kept out by Storari), Lavezzi (diagonal shot just wide of the goal), and Cavani (stopped by a millimetric offside decision) all knocked on Juve’s door, and the Bianconeri were suffering considerably at the back feeling the absence of Giorgio Chiellini (substituted in a like-for-life swap by Martín Cáceres).

After having survived the early danger, the Bianconeri slowly but surely grew into the game, returning to their usual dominating selves. Del Piero, despite his few touches, put his technique & experience to work; Marchisio was the usual midfield engine supplying quality & quantity; Pirlo was Pirlo (need we say more?).

Speaking of Marchisio, Principino missed an excellent chance to open the score inside the box after a great improvised ADP magic, but wasn’t awarded a penalty following his scoffed shot after Aronica kicked him instead of the ball. It was not to be the only mistake of the night for referee Christian Brighi, alas. At the break, the 0-0 scoreline was rather fallacious as a telltale of the match, which had certainly seen no lack of opportunities for either side.

In the second period, the game further increased in intensity, spawning many fouls and an even greater number of arguments on the pitch. Brighi continued his “off” day pretty much displeasing everybody, but cannot really be blamed for the 61st minute decision that changed the game’s momentum.

From an apparently innocuous throw-in by Napoli, a defensive SNAFU by Bonucci, Barzagli, and Storari combined allowed Lavezzi to get his feet to a trailing ball inside the Juve box, and the Juventus goalkeeper to bring him down. Penalty Kick. There were little doubts on Cavani’s ability to transform the spot-shot for Napoli, and the Uruguayan promptly made it 1-0 for the Partenopei.

In the 68th minute, Alessandro Del Piero was subbed out under a standing ovation of the Stadio Olimpico. The moment was historic: il Capitano‘s farewell to Juventus. But certainly one which everyone hoped would’ve been under better circumstances. It was also a rather harsh decision because all in all Alex had played quite decently that night, but Conte had decided Juve’s attack needed something different.

Things certainly seemed to look up for the Bianconeri, as play completely shifted towards Napoli’s half of the pitch. Bonucci and Pepe came very close to the equalizer (Pepe missing his chance due some freakishly lucky goalkeeping by De Sanctis), Juve pressed and pressed some more, but couldn’t manage to find a goal. Napoli’s defense held tight. And their midfield waited. Lurking…

As it were, the Azzurri’s counterattack was ruthless. With almost the entire Juventus team up the park, a cleared corner allowed Pandev to exchange passes with Hamsik, then to put the Slovakian midfielder through on goal. As he beat Storari with a deft shot to the far post, the 2-0 scoreline essentially meant game over for Juve. All that was left in the game to tell was a retaliatory Quagliarella elbow to Aronica’s face, which promptly saw the ex-Napoli forward ejected and pick up a three-match ban for violent conduct.

Thus, the fairy tale ending for Alessandro Del Piero was not to be. Not tonight. And ultimately, Juventus will not be able to claim an historic 10th Coppa Italia win, to end an already perfect season in an even more perfect way. But ultimately, Del Piero already had the most beautiful of farewells at Juventus Stadium only a week earlier. So pardon me if, if only for a moment, I forget the words of Boniperti’s emblematic motto. In fact much like I saw a banner recite at Juventus Stadium not too long ago, allow me to change them.

More than all the trophies & silver stars in the world, tonight, for one night, “Del Piero isn’t important, it’s the only thing that counts”.

LE PAGELLE      (by Marco Pantanella)

Storari 5 – Attentive during his shot-stopping moments, Storari’s rash decision at rushing out of his goal when he did, against a Lavezzi who still had a very tight angle and very few places to go, caused a rather unnecessary penalty.
 

 
Barzagli 5.5 – The moment during which Lavezzi slipped up behind him to be brought down by Storari, was the only negative blip of an otherwise solid performance by Andrea. Unfortunately, it was a moment that counted.

Bonucci 6.5 – Shares less blame than Barzagli on Napoli’s first goal, and was otherwise very convincing in a dominating defensive performance. It’s good to see Leonardo’s confidence soaring so, and this even despite Chiellini’s absence tonight.

Cáceres 6 – Let’s put it this way: he’s no Keyser Giorgio. Despite the Uruguayan combative nature and fully capable tackling skills, the absence of Chiellini’s ruthless man-marking was felt this evening. Allowed a little too much roaming room to Napoli’s right-wing players.

Lichtsteiner 5.5 – Not as dynamically penetrating as usual. Put up a fierce battle against Zuniga on his wing, much like he did in the league match several months ago. Only this time, our swiss right-back/wing-back suffered from being too nervously irritated. Subbed off by Conte before he picked up his second yellow.

(68′) Pepe 6.5 – For a moment, it seemed like Pepe’s introduction had upset the defensive balance of Napoli’s left side, as the Azzurri defenders didn’t know how to contain the Juventus winger. Came very close to produce the equalizing goal, and otherwise continued to attack relentlessly.

Vidal 6 – Not Vidal’s worst performance, but not a vintage one either.

Pirlo 6 – Tried as best he could to illuminate Juve’s play with a few magical touches. Unfortunately was unable to find the “killer” ball, and was equally not too accurate aim-wise with his free-kicks, despite two excellent opportunities.

Marchisio 6.5 – Probably the best of Juve’s midfield on Sunday, battling hard, finding himself ready, and producing the only two decent chances of the M-V-P trio (the first one was saved by De Sanctis, the other one he mis-hit).

Estigarribia 5.5 – So here’s the thing: in terms of work rate, El Chelo is right on par with the best of them. He works hard, is unafraid of challenges, runs up and down the park as needed. Touch-wise (offensively) and covering-wise (defensively) he still leaves a little to be desired. Left way too much room to Christian Maggio.

Borriello 5.5 – I know what you’re thinking. “What the hell did Borriello do Sunday?” My answer to you is: not much, but also “what the hell did he do WRONG”? The answer is also: not much. Simply put, he didn’t have a whole lot of the ball to begin with. Tough to blame a target man for not doing anything when he’s not being fed decent balls he can exploit.

(73′) Quagliarella 4 – Had practically no impact in the final minutes of the match, and made up for it by… impacting Aronica’s face instead. Needless.

Del Piero s.v. – Is there really an appropriate number here? Should it be ADP’s actual match rating (which averages around 6.0-6.5)? Should it be 705 (his match appearances with Juventus) or his goals (too many to count)? Or is it 10 (the only rating we’d ever want to give a guy like Del Piero)? No. For his last big game for Juve, ADP does not need to be graded. He will always be #10, in our hearts.

(68′) Vucinic s.v. – Very little to do and very little time to do it in.

 
Conte 5.5 – In hindsight, starting Borriello alongside ADP was probably not a good idea. In the first part of the first half what Juventus were missing above all were creativity and ideas, things that a player like Borriello will never be able to provide. Other than that, it’s tough to blame Conte for anything on Sunday. Napoli were simply hungrier than Juventus.

PLAY-BY-PLAY      (by Marco Pantanella)

46′	We’re back. No changes at half-time for either team, but Pepe started his warm-up for Juve.
46′	Yellow card Lichtsteiner for a late slide on Lavezzi. Not 10 seconds on the clock…
49′	DZEMAILI! Storming run on the left, exchanges passes with Lavezzi and swings it low for Cavani at the far post! The Uruguayan can’t get to it.
52′	Great Pirlo pass to put ADP through on the right. He’s flagged for a non-existent offside.
54′	Yellow card Dzemaili for a late kick on Borriello.
55′	Maggio running hard on Napoli’s right wing. Gets entangled with Cáceres inside the Juve box but no foul says the ref.
55′	Yellow card P.Cannavaro for a foul on ADP. The tension keeps increasing.
56′	From the left, long Pirlo ball towards Lichtsteiner inside the box. The Swiss jumps for it and earns a corner. Nothing comes out of it.
60′	ADP tries to draw the support of the fans before taking a corner! A HUGE ROAR emanates from the Stadio Olimpico curva!!
61′	Brighi blows another call against Juve, denying them a corner kick.
62′	PENALTY KICK Napoli. Needless Storari slide challenge on Lavezzi inside the box, who had gotten through after a flicked Cavani header from the right side.
62′	Yellow card Storari for the foul.
62′	Yellow card Borriello for dissent.
62′	Replays showing that although the PK was Storari’s fault for the rash slide, Barzagli shares the blame of letting Lavezzi slip through.
63′	Goal Napoli. Cavani sends Storari the wrong way. 0-1.
66′	ESTIGARRIBIA! Blows a great opportunity, after a great Pirlo pass (missed clearance by Cannavaro) had put him clear inside the Napoli box. El Chelo miscontrols the ball and gifts Napoli a goal kick.
67′	Substitution Juve: Vucinic & Pepe come on for Del Piero & Lichtsteiner. ADP will not get on the scoresheet tonight.
67′	Understand the Lichtsteiner substitution, he was very nervous and already on a yellow. Shame for ADP though…
69′	Pepe tight cross from the right at the first post. Straight into De Sanctis’s arms.
70′	BONUCCI!! After a deflected Pirlo cross from the right, rotating half-volley by Leo kept just out the left post by De Sanctis!!!
72′	Substitution Napoli: Pandev comes on for Lavezzi.
72′	Substitution Juve: Quagliarella comes on for Borriello.
73′	PEPE!! Fantastic penetrating run by Pepe inside the Napoli box!! Skips past one, then two Azzurri defenders, fires a left-footed blast than somehow deflects off Vidal and is miraculously saved by De Sanctis’s trailing foot!!! How unlucky!!!
75′	Quagliarella earns a foul in Pirlo territory, 20 yards in front of the Napoli box.
75′	Off the FK, Pirlo… blocked by the wall!
76′	Great block by Bonucci who stops a potential counter-attack by Napoli.
76′	Problems for Marchisio? He’s holding his left shoulder…
78′	Great recovery by the Juventus defense, as they negate a 3v3 opportunity. The key challenge was by Cáceres.
80′	Yellow card De Sanctis for timewasting.
83′	Goal Napoli. Well this does it…
83′	The Goal: Against the run of play and with most of the Juve team up the field, Napoli counter-attack 4v3. Pandev serves it up for Hamsik inside the box who beats Storari at the far post. 0-2.
85′	Substitution Napoli: Dossena comes on for Hamsik.
88′	CÁCERES!! Off a Juve FK, Pirlo almost find the noggin of the Uruguayan center-back ready to hammer it in.
90′	Five minutes of added time.
91′	Red card Quagliarella . Reacting to some close-contact man-marking by Aronica, Quags reacts with an elbow to the defender’s face. Worst possible end to a bad game for Juve.
93′	Substitution Napoli: Just for the sake of wasting even more time, Britos comes on for Cavani.
94′	Pepe called offside.
96′	All over. No fairy tale ending for ADP & Juventus. The Coppa goes to Napoli, the team that wanted it more tonight.

Post-Match INTERVIEWS (click to expand)

• [video_lightbox_youtube video_id=SpNmUHXys4Y width=640 height=480 anchor="{ Alessandro DEL PIERO }"]
• [video_lightbox_youtube video_id=pB5wSPyCaLU width=640 height=480 anchor="{ Claudio MARCHISIO }"]
• [video_lightbox_youtube video_id=zwuTAllt7po width=640 height=480 anchor="{ Antonio CONTE }"]

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	JUVENTUS-NAPOLI 0-2
GOALSCORERS: 63′ pen. Cavani (N), 83′ Hamsik (N)
JUVENTUS (3-5-2): Storari – Barzagli, Bonucci, Cáceres – Lichtsteiner (68′ Pepe), Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Estigarribia – Borriello (73′ Quagliarella), Del Piero (68′ Vucinic). COACH: Conte. (UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: Manninger, Padoin, Giaccherini, Matri).
NAPOLI (3-5-2): De Sanctis – Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Aronica – Maggio, Dzemaili, Inler, Hamsik (86′ Dossena), Zuniga – Cavani (93′ Britos), Lavezzi (72′ Pandev). COACH: Mazzarri. (UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: Rosati, Grava, Fernandez, Vargas).