14 January 2020
Udinese will take on Juventus at Allianz Stadium in a Coppa Italia Last 16 fixture, and they arrive in Turin after having already progressed through two rounds of the event.
The Bianconeri first faced SudTirol in their opening fixture of the Coppa Italia, and they claimed a 3-1 victory courtesy of goals from Lasagna and the brace of Mandragora. On 4 December, again at Dacia Arena, Udinese brushed aside Bologna 4-0. This is the first time they have reached the Round of 16 since the 2017/2018 season, when they were then eliminated at the San Paolo by Napoli.
A POSITIVE MOMENT
Luca Gotti's team is experiencing a very positive moment. After the 3-1 defeat in Turin against Juventus on 15 December, they have gone on to secure three consecutive successes in Serie A, the best seasonal streak: 2-1 against Cagliari in the last game of 2019, 1-0 in Lecce and Sunday's 3-0 win against Sassuolo with goals from Okaka, Sema and De Paul.
The latter has been one of the great protagonists of the exponential growth of the Friulians. The Argentine, in his fourth year in Udine, has been in some of his best form, scoring three consecutive goals. And it is no coincidence that he has earned a call-up by Lionel Scaloni to the national team. Between the league and the Italian Cup, he is the second best scorer in the team with four goals (same number as Okaka), while Kevin Lasagna has bagged five.
THE MATCH ON 15 DECEMBER IN TURIN
The Bianconeri will host Udinese at Allianz Stadium for the second time in the season. The first game, in the league, saw Sarri's team prevail 3-1 thanks to Ronaldo's brace and Bonucci's goal, while Pussetto scored in extra time. In that outing Juventus maintained 65.6% of possession against 34.4% to Udinese, with the guests losing most of the duels, including the aerial ones. Gotti's formation is very dangerous in the counterattacks, with quick players able to turn around the action with great ease. The basic form is 3-5-2, which often turns into a 5-3-2 when off the ball.
Until now, Udinese have scored 24 goals this season, seven of which came in the two Italian Cup games.
