16 June 2020
After eliminating Milan and Inter in the semi-finals respectively, Juventus and Napoli will face off in tomorrow's Coppa Italia Coca Cola Final at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
Today, ahead of the big match, Bianconeri boss, Maurizio Sarri answered questions from invited journalists at Allianz Stadium.
Here is the recap in full:
THE FINAL
"Winning is never a foregone conclusion, tomorrow it will be important to do it for the players, for the club and for the fans. We have worked hard to get to this position to play games like this, it's time to give everything we have. We have been on a good path throughout the season to get to this phase to still be in the running for everything and having succeeded is already a merit. Now, we need to give that little bit more to win as many trophies as possible and transform this long road we have taken into something concrete."
NAPOLI
"Against Inter I saw a team that initially tried to press their opponents high and then, I don't know if for physical or result-related issues, they sat lower, we will see what attitude they will have tomorrow. They are clearly a difficult team to deal with, because when they close down they are solid, they know how to dribble out well and when they c counter they know how to be very dangerous. In recent times they have been able to express themselves at high levels. Compared to the last game we played against them, we have to avoid a series of small errors, which in that match made us lose compactness."
TEAM SELECTION
"From a tactical point of view, there is no room for major changes. Our trident doesn't make things clear for the opposing defences, rather I mainly assign them defensive positions, leaving freedom of movement in the offensive phase. We'll see whether Dybala or Ronaldo plays in the centre and how we will start, it's not a given that the formation we begin the match with will be the same as we end with. Against Milan, Cristiano did well on a quantitative level, making himself available with a great energy expenditure even in the defensive phase. As for Higuain and Ramsey, Gonzalo didn't take part in the group session, whilst Aaron trained for 20 minutes with his teammates. Let's see if it will be available for a part of the game.
"From the point of view of intensity, I don't expect any changes, your condition doesn't change completely after a few days. It will be a difficult game, as they are all after this period of long and atypical inactivity. Against Milan we approached the game with great aggression, taking the game in hand, before physical condition, result and on-pitch sensations led us to manage our energies."
THE RESTART
"From a mental point of view it's been a difficult period for everyone but I've seen the guys at their best: open, smiling and ready to play. Maybe I've also improved too, I'm more patient and less uncompromising."
