Juve, Ronaldo lose to Napoli in Coppa Italia final

Published on: 17 June 2020

Napoli beat Juventus on penalties to win the Coppa Italia final as Arkadiusz Milik netted the winning spot kick following a 0-0 draw.

Both Napoli manager Gennaro Gattuso and Juve's Maurizio Sarri came into this match in search of their first major trophy in Italian football as a manager, having qualified for the final following narrow semifinal victories.

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Gattuso, a beaten finalist as AC Milan manager in 2018, started with highly-rated Italian goalkeeper Alex Meret due to David Ospina's suspension while 42-year-old Gianluigi Buffon was in between the sticks at the other end.

Napoli beat Juventus on penalties after a 0-0 draw in normal time. Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images

It was a frustrating game for both sides as Juve started better with Meret making a good, early save from a Cristiano Ronaldo shot, but it was Napoli who ended the half better and only some impressive Buffon stops prevented them taking the lead.

Neither side really took control of the game after the break, though Napoli took full advantage of the five changes available, while Sarri -- having been very self-critical of his substitutions in the semifinal second leg -- only used three.

Juve's Federico Bernardeschi needlessly gave away a corner in stoppage time and only a stunning double save from Buffon prevented Napoli sealing a late winner and the game went to penalties.

Paulo Dybala took the first of the shootout and saw his effort saved by Meret before Insigne coolly slotted past Buffon. Danilo then stepped up, waited, and blazed his effort over the bar and Matteo Politano, on loan from Inter Milan, squeezed his effort in to put Napoli 2-0 ahead in the shootout.

Leonardo Bonucci got Juve off the mark as his effort went in off the bar, but Nikola Maksimovic restored the two-goal lead with a thumping effort. Aaron Ramsey kept the game alive with a cool finish before Milik sealed a 4-2 spot-kick win.

Source: espn.co.uk

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