After two long years, the final of the Italian Cup returns to a sold-out Olympic Stadium in Rome. A city that, in over a century of Juventus history, has witnessed many unforgettable triumphs, and not only in the domestic cup competition. The Olimpico is synonymous with the Champions League victory on 22 May 1996, when Marcello Lippi's side defeated Ajax on penalties. What followed was a procession of black and white flags from the stadium to the city centre to celebrate a historic victory.
The Eternal City has seen Juventus celebrate league titles, Italian Super Cups and above all, Italian Cups. Counting only one-off finals, no city has hosted the Italian Cup Final more often than Rome. Of the 17 played so far, Juventus have taken part in eight of them, and raised the Cup to the heavens five times.
Recently, four in a row under the auspices of Massimiliano Allegri, from 2015 to 2018 - in the same ground, on the same pitch, twice against Lazio, twice against Milan.
HISTORY JUVE IN CUP
No club has held the Cup aloft as often as Juventus. 14 victories, five more than nearest rivals Roma, as many as third and fourth placed in the winner's table, Inter and Lazio, combined.
Each triumph has had its own specific taste, from the first in 1937-38 against Torino in Turin, to the most recent, last year against Atalanta in Reggio Emilia. Find out more on the Black & White Cup history here.
The first Coppa Italia raised aloft in Rome, meanwhile, dates back to August 1965, against eternal rivals Inter. Juventus have met the Nerazzurri twice in the Italian Cup Final, in a six year spell in the 1960s. Both times the Bianconeri triumphed despite being considered underdogs against the Grande Inter coached by Helenio Herrera.
Click here to discover the details on those two Derby d'Italia triumphs.
Back the present. Yesterday the team completed the final training session before setting off for Rome. The positive news was other than Danilo, rested against Genoa at the weekend, and Luca Pellegrini both available after taking part in the week's preparations, Manuel Locatelli has also been declared fit after a month on the sidelines due to a muscle injury. So, the squad is at its strongest with only the long-term absentees missing out on the final slice of Cup action.
On arriving in Rome yesterday evening, while the rest of the squad and entourage made their way to the team hotel, Massimiliano Allegri and Giorgio Chiellini addressed the press at the Olimpico in the pre-match conference.
Coach Allegri revealed that Chiellini would start as would Mattia Perin and Paulo Dybala in what is the fourth meeting with Inter this season. Both coach and captain are on the verge of rewriting some important statistics, so we leave them the closing words.