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THE COPPA ITALIA FINAL
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The Coppa Italia final, after much anticipation, finally came upon us yesterday. AS Roma and Juventus took to the fields in their respective colors, the Roman red of the Giallorossi and the classic black and white of the Old Lady. With a trophy on the line, this match between the two great rivals was certain to prove goals, action, excitement, and controversy.
Both Antonio Conte and Francesco Totti went with extremely strong lineups, but both also decided to reward their cup keepers for their fine form throughout the tournament with a start in the final itself. Sebastian Giovinco was given a start for Roma against his old club with the dynamic duo of Miralem Pjanic and Clement Grenier behind him. Conte surprised a few people by giving Bojan a go up top as well. The full lineups are as follows:
AS Roma Starting XI (4-1-2-2-1)
Jeroen
Zoet; Matteo
Darmian, Tin
Jedvaj, Alessio
Romagnoli,
Dodo; Daniele
De Rossi (C); Andrea
Bertolacci, Nuri
Sahin; Miralem
Pjanic, Clement
Grenier; Sebastian
Giovinco
Juventus Starting XI (3-1-4-2)
Nicola
Leali; Mateo
Musacchio, Shkodran
Mustafi, Giorgio
Chiellini (C); Paul
Pogba; Stephan
Lichtsteiner, Pedro
Obiang, Arturo
Vidal, Paolo
De Ceglie;
Bojan Krkic, Duvan
Zapata
The teams both came out strong with the intent to attack and control the game, but it was AS Roma who burst out of the gates with that extra bit of intensity. Just twelve minutes into the match, Miralem Pjanic found himself in space out on the right and picked out a perfect back post cross to Nuri Sahin. The Turkish midfielder's ensuing volleyed finish, however, was ruled out for offside, but certainly got the fans in the mood for more.
The rest of the half degenerated into a midfield battle of sorts. Roma and Juventus both had five midfielders in their lineups which both struggled to find space against each other. In stoppage time, though, Brazilian fullback Dodo had other ideas. He sprinted past Lichtsteiner and crossed into the near post for
Miralem Pjanic to toe-poke home, sending the Roma faithful into raptures in the sold-out Olimpico.
It was a real kick to the teeth for the Bianconeri, who had played quite well in the first half. They came out after the break determined to equalize as soon as possible, only to have their hopes shot down just 30 seconds after kickoff. It was that man Dodo again down the left, whipping in a cross from deep straight at
Nicola Leali...only for the youngster to drop the ball between his legs into the net.
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A goal just before and just after halftime, both assisted by youthful Brazilian left back Dodo left AS Roma 2-0 up and with all the momentum heading into the final 44 minutes.
Though Roma certainly had the momentum following these morale-crushing goals, Totti chose a more practical approach and adopted a slightly more defensive style in the second half to try and stave off the inevitable onrushing attacks from Juventus's deadly front line. Just five minutes later, though, this style proved...not so helpful.
Arturo Vidal had broken out of midfield with a powerful burst out of the center and easily sidefooted a pass into the path of
Duvan Zapata. The Colombian striker made no mistake in hammering the ball into the roof of the net, bringing Conte's men back to 2-1 and giving the team an invaluable sense of renewed hope.
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Arturo Vidal was at the heart of everything positive going forward for Juventus; even the legendary De Rossi could not handle the midfielder's drive and determination.
The second half was fought mainly in Roma's half, but the Giallorossi still created a chance or two. Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic, who scored the first goal, nearly doubled his tally for the evening with a stunning free kick that crashed off of the crossbar and bounced clear, much to the dismay of the red-clad fans praying for their side to hold on to the lead.
In the dying embers of the match, Juventus nearly forced the game into extra time. A late free kick was lumped into the box by Vidal, and Leonardo Bonucci snapped the ball goalwards with a back post header. Dutch goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet produced a brilliant save, however, springing across the goalmouth and tipping the ball over the net to deny the opposition a last-gasp equalizer like last season against AC Milan.
Thus, the final whistle blew, and all of Rome exploded into celebrations, centered at the great palace that is the Stadio Olimpico. Now
eleven times winners of the Coppa, no team has even close the same number of wins in the TIM Cup as Roma. Nobody could even reach Totti for comment after the match; he was far too busy celebrating with his players, and rightfully so. The domestic double was his, and now the UEFA Champions League lies in wait.
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Loving the name change, by the way!
Thanks my friend, hopefully we can cap it all off in style and bring home the trophy 
