The Stadio Olimpico in Rome will stage the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa final this evening

The wait is over: tonight, one of Atalanta or Juventus will lift the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa trophy towards the sky in Rome.

Kick-off is scheduled for 21:00 CEST at the Olimpico, where a tight game is expected. If the match is level after 90 minutes, it will go into extra time and possibly penalties to determine who will win the trophy Inter got their hands on last year.

Giampiero Gasperini’s men come into the game in fine form as they look to win the club’s first Coppa Italia Frecciarossa since 1963. La Dea, who eliminated Sassuolo, AC Milan and Fiorentina to make it this far, have won their last four Serie A TIM games (against Monza, Empoli, Salernitana and Roma) to move into fifth in the table and to within four points of Juventus, over whom they have a game in hand (against Fiorentina at 18:00 CEST on 2 June).

La Dea have also written history in Europe by qualifying for the Europa League final, where they’ll face Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin on 22 May.

Meanwhile, Juventus knocked out Salernitana, Frosinone and Lazio to make it to this stage of the competition. Massimiliano Allegri’s side, who haven’t won since 7 April, have drawn five consecutive matches in the league but will be involved in the Coppa Italia final for the fourth time in the last five years (defeats to Napoli and Inter and a victory over Atalanta in 2021/22).

DID YOU KNOW?

Atalanta have won six of their last seven matches in all competitions (D1), scoring 16 in the process (an average of 2.3 goals per game).

All of Juventus’ last six Coppa Italia final goals arrived from left-footed strikes (exluding own goals). They were netted (in order) by the following players: Douglas Costa, Benatia, Kulusevski, Chiesa, Alex Sandro and Vlahovic.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Juventus are the team Atalanta have faced on the most occasions in the Coppa Italia: the teams have met 17 times in the competition, with the Bianconeri winning seven of these fixtures. Six draws and four La Dea wins complete the picture.

Juventus have won four of their last five matches against Atalanta in the Coppa Italia (L1): La Dea’s only victory in this period arrived on 30 January 2019 (a 3-0 quarter-final win thanks to Timothy Castagne’s finish and a Duván Zapata brace).

Atalanta and Juventus have drawn four of their last five matches (completing the picture is one Bianconeri victory) against each other in all competitions, including the two most recent encounters (both in Serie A TIM this season). The two sides could play out at least three consecutive draws for the first time since the period between 1990 and 1991. They’ve never drawn with each other three times in a single campaign.

PLAYERS

Ademola Lookman has scored two goals against Juventus in all competitions (a brace in Serie A on 22 January 2023); only against Fiorentina (three) has he found the net on more occasions in an Atalanta shirt.

Federico Chiesa has directly contributed to nine goals against Atalanta (five goals and four assists in 18 matches); against no other side has he done better. His last goal against La Dea arrived in the Coppa Italia final on 19 May 2021.

Arkadiusz Milik has scored the most goals in this season’s Coppa Italia (four). Following closely behind him is Koopmeiners, who has bagged three. Federico Chiesa (six) and Krzysztof Piatek (eight) were the last Serie A TIM players to net at least five goals in a single edition of the tournament; they did so in 2018/19.

COACHES

Gian Piero Gasperini, who came through the Juventus youth ranks as a player, made nine appearances for Juventus’ first team (all of which were in the Coppa Italia).

Massimiliano Allegri has avoided defeat in 22 of his 28 encounters with Gian Piero Gasperini as a coach in all competitions (W12, D10).

DISCIPLINE

Atalanta: Scamacca (1)

Juventus: Locatelli (1)

CAUTIONED

Atalanta: de Roon, Éderson, Gasperini (allenatore), Kolasinac, Miranchuk

Juventus: Kostic, Weah

REFEREE

Maresca (Bindoni-Tegoni), IV: Mariani, VAR: Marini, AVAR: Di Paolo

(Photo Getty Images)

Juventus Atalanta Coppa Italia