Juventus will be looking to enter the last four of the Coppa Italia when they lock horns with AS Roma in the quarter-final at the Allianz Stadium this week.
Juventus and AS Roma will face off against each other for the second time in ten days, with a place in the semi-final of the Coppa Italia at stake this time out. The two teams had met each other in the league last week, with the Bianconeri beating the Giallorossi 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.
Juventus come into the game on a four-game winning streak, with a 2-1 triumph against Parma being their most recent result while their last cup tie ended in a resounding 4-0 win against Udinese. Having crashed out at the quarter-final stages in the last season, Maurizio Sarri’s men will be keen on avoiding a similar fate this time out and stay in contention for the trophy.
After losing to Juventus, Roma defeated Parma 2-0 in the cup competition, before beating Genoa 3-1 in the league and come into Wednesday’s game high on confidence. They too had exited the Coppa Italia at the quarter-final stage last time out and will be hoping to achieve further progress in the ongoing campaign with a win against the Bianconeri.
Ahead of this heavyweight cup clash at the Allianz Stadium on Wednedsay, we at The Hard Tackle take a closer look at both the teams.
Team News & Tactics
Juventus
Juventus will be without long-term absentees Giorgio Chiellini, Sami Khedira and Merih Demiral for the cup tie while Alex Sandro is a doubt for the fixture after picking up an injury in the last game. Juan Cuadrado trained alone on Tuesday due to a fever, but could be available for selection.
Sarri rotated his troops for the last cup game, although at this stage of the competition, the Italian might look to keep the changes at a minimum on Wednesday. There ought to be an alteration in goal though, with club legend Gigi Buffon coming in for Wojciech Szczesny.
Cuadrado should be fit enough to start on the right side of the defence, while Danilo is likely to replace compatriot Alex Sandro at left-back. Matthijs de Ligt is a certain starter at the centre of the backline, with Daniele Rugani likely to get an opportunity at the expense of Leonardo Bonucci.
Miralem Pjanic ought to feature at the base of the Juventus midfield while Rodrigo Bentancur should get a rare start for the Bianconeri on Wednesday. The third midfield slot will most likely be occupied by Blaise Matuidi once again, with Adrien Rabiot picking up a minor knock in the last game.
Cristiano Ronaldo was benched for the cup game last time out, but could be included in the starting lineup here, with Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain completing the attacking trident for the hosts, meaning there is unlikely to be a place for Federico Bernardeschi and Douglas Costa.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Buffon; Cuadrado, Rugani, de Ligt, Danilo; Bentancur, Pjanic, Matuidi; Dybala, Higuain, Ronaldo
AS Roma
Roma manager Paulo Fonseca will have to make do without key attacker Nicolo Zaniolo, who is ruled out with an ACL injury while Davide Zappacosta also misses out. Star striker Edin Dzeko is suspended for the contest, which will come as a major blow for the Giallorossi.
? | SQUAD LIST | ?
Here are the players available for Wednesday's Coppa Italia quarter-final against Juventus! ✈️
#ASRoma #JuveRoma pic.twitter.com/BwpaK7hR2G— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) January 21, 2020
Fonseca fielded his team in a 3-3-3-1 formation in the last cup game, but is likely to revert to 4-2-3-1 against Juventus on Wednesday. Pau Lopez is pretty much certain to start in goal for the visitors, while Alessandro Florenzi and Aleksandr Kolarov are likely to slot in as the full-backs with Gianluca Mancini and Chris Smalling at the centre of the backline.
Amadou Diawara is likely to be retained in one of the two pivot positions in the middle of the park for Roma, with the second spot likely to be taken up by Bryan Cristante, who will be replacing Jordan Veretout. The playmaking responsibilities will fall onto Lorenzo Pellegrini, who scored twice in the last cup tie against Roma.
Cengiz Under and Justin Kluivert are likely to slot in on the flanks and look to cause problems to the Juventus defence with their pace and dribbling abilities. With no Dzeko, Nikola Kalinic should be the man spearheading the Roma attack at the Allianz Stadium.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Lopez; Florenzi, Mancini, Smalling, Kolarov; Cristante, Diawara; Under, Pellegrini, Kluivert; Kalinic
Key Stats
- Juventus and AS Roma have faced each other 16 times in the cup competition over the years, with both the teams having emerged victorious on seven occasions each (D2).
- Juventus and Roma are the top two sides with most Coppa Italia trophies. The Bianconeri have won the competition on an unprecedented thirteen occasions, while the Giallorossi have lifted the cup nine times so far.
- The last time these two teams met in the Coppa Italia was at this stage in 2014, with Roma beating Juventus 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.
- Roma are still yet to win a game at the new home of Juventus, having lost nine games there since 2012. In fact, the last time the Giallorossi won against them in Turin was in 2011, in the Coppa Italia quarter-final.
Player to Watch
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese maverick did not feature in the last cup game for Juventus, but has been in excellent form in the Serie A of late. In his three league appearances in the new year, Cristiano Ronado has scored six goals, including a hat-trick and a brace in Juventus’ last game against Parma, leading the team from the front.
The 34-year-old has now taken his tally for the season to 18 goals from 24 matches across all competitions, while also chipping in with three assists. With a spot in the semi-final is at stake, Juventus will once again look up to Ronaldo to deliver the goods against Roma, who had scored in the last league meeting against the Giallorossi.
Prediction
Juventus 2-1 AS Roma
Both Juventus and Roma come into the game on the back of impressive wins and will be in a confident mood. However, the Giallorossi don’t boast the best of records in Turin and will be without Edin Dzeko. Add to that, the form that Cristiano Ronaldo has been in of late, Juventus have the advantage and should come out on top and progress in the Coppa Italia.
