09 January 2019
In addition to Juventus’ record-breaking streak of four consecutive Coppa Italia crowns, the Bianconeri’s latest cup win caught the eye for another reason: Juve went through the whole competition without conceding a single goal. It means that Max Allegri’s side haven’t conceded a Coppa Italia goal in 563 minutes, with the streak stretching back to 2017.
Since Lorenzo Insigne’s ultimately meaningless goal in the second leg of the 2016/17 semi-finals, three different Juve goalkeepers have contributed to the Bianconeri’s stunning defensive record. Let’s take a closer look at how it went down.
17 MAY 2017, JUVENTUS 2-0 LAZIO
Juve won the 2016/17 Coppa Italia final after a blistering first-half performance. Between the sticks for the Bianconeri was Brazilian keeper Norberto Neto, making his final appearance for the club. The biggest scare for Neto came near the beginning of the game, as Keita Balde struck the post, while there was a great save from the Brazilian to deny a second-half effort from Felipe Anderson, eclipsed only by a stunning one-handed stop from a close-range Ciro Immobile header.
20 DECEMBER 2017, JUVENTUS 2-0 GENOA
The journey towards Juventus’ 13th Coppa Italia title began with a 2-0 defeat of Genoa at Allianz Stadium. Wojciech Szczesny was the man in goal, and the Pole made a decisive intervention in the second half as he denied Bulgarian Andrey Galabinov with the match poised at 1-0.
3 JANUARY 2018, JUVENTUS 2-0 TORINO
Juve kicked off 2018 with the Derby della Mole, but there was not much to worry about for Szczesny apart from a M’Baye Niang shot which crashed off the woodwork from a ball forward from keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. It was an otherwise quiet night for the Pole as the Bianconeri advanced to the next round.
30 JANUARY 2018, ATALANTA 0-1 JUVENTUS
Gianluigi Buffon got the nod for the first leg of the semi-final against Atalanta, which the Bianconeri took control of after just three minutes thanks to a goal from Gonzalo Higuain. Buffon produced a magical performance in Bergamo, producing two stunning saves: a first-half penalty stop at the expense of Alejandro Gomez and a smart save to deny Hans Hateboer and maintain Juve’s lead with just two minutes left on the clock.
28 FEBRUARY 2018, JUVENTUS 1-0 ATALANTA
The semi-final second leg produced the same result as the first instalment, albeit against an Atalanta side that posed Juve a more sustained threat throughout the 90 minutes. Buffon responded well to a deflected Gomez volley in the opening exchanges, and had the frame of the goal to thank when the Argentine forward tried a long-range effort later on.
9 MAY 2018, JUVENTUS 4-0 AC MILAN
Juventus clinched the Coppa Italia with their biggest-ever winning margin in the final – and there could be no complaints about the scoreline. Yet even in such a dominant display, the Bianconeri goalkeeper still played his part. Buffon made a save from Patrick Cutrone in the eighth minute of the game, before following it up with some smart keeping to thwart Suso. The Italian’s best moments came towards the end of the game, with Juve already four goals to the good, but Gigi stayed focus to ensure the Bianconeri’s run of cup clean sheets was maintained.
Bologna will be the next team to try to find the net against Juve in the cup, as they do battle on Saturday at 19:45 CET.
