For the fourth time this season, two titans of Calcio convene as Inter Milan meet holders Juventus in Wednesday’s Coppa Italia final at Stadio Olimpico.
Reprising a decades-old rivalry, the Nerazzurri and Bianconeri will have the eyes of the world on their latest Derby d’Italia, which is only the third ever final between Serie A’s two most successful sides.
While Juve won both previous deciders, the most recent was in 1965, and they have recently been on the wrong end of the result against Inter more often than not.
Juventus are in fourth place in the Serie A standings and have shown steady improvement over the course of their season. The Bianconeri suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Genoa in their previous game and will need to bounce back this week.
Inter Milan, on the other hand, are in second place in the league table and face a crucial set of games this month. The Nerazzurri eased past Empoli by a 4-2 margin over the weekend and will look to achieve a similar result in this fixture.
Sitting fourth in the Serie A standings, Max Allegri‘s men have stumbled several times this term, and though their first clash with Inter saw the points shared in October’s 1-1 draw – Paulo Dybala scoring a late equaliser from the spot – their Nerazzurro rivals enjoyed sweet revenge at the start of this year.
On that occasion, the Supercoppa Italiana went the way of Inter, as Alexis Sanchez snatched a stoppage-time winner to deny the Bianconeri an opportunity to try their luck in a penalty shootout.
Team News:
Inter Milan: Inter travel to the capital with few fitness concerns, as even Alessandro Bastoni could contend for a spot at centre-back, having returned to training this week following a calf problem which has ruled him out for several weeks.
Should the Italy international be unable to line up in Simone Inzaghi’s back three, his place on the left would again be filled by Federico Dimarco, though Danilo D’Ambrosio is another available option.
Juventus: Mattia De Sciglio is serving a suspension at the moment and will not be available for selection this weekend. Dusan Vlahovic has been impressive for Juventus and will likely lead the line alongside Alvaro Morata.
Juventus vs Inter Milan Head-to-Head
Juventus have a good record against Inter Milan and have won 114 out of the 258 matches played between the two sides. Inter Milan have managed 80 victories against Juventus and will look to cut the deficit on Wednesday.
Probable Lineups:
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Lautaro Martinez, Dzeko
Juventus (4-4-2): Perin; Danilo, De Ligt, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Zakaria, Rabiot, Bernardeschi; Dybala, Vlahovic
