Napoli knocked out Juventus 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw in regulation time. The team was declared winners of the Italian Cup on Wednesday, 17th June 2020 with coach Gennaro Gattuso bagging his first major trophy as manager.
Napoli denied Juventus from clinching a treble this season when the shootout saw the former convert all shots while Juve’s Paulo Dybala and Danilo missed their first two attempts. The win gave Napoli the championship trophy for the sixth time.
It is also the first title won in the Italian season after a three-month long hiatus due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. The initial plan was to have the players collecting their own medals at the ceremony, but they were instead presented the honours from their respective club presidents, Aurelio De Laurentiis and Andrea Agnelli.
Gattuso’s managerial takeover in December after the team’s defiance against De Laurentiis’ week-long training camp made his victory even more notable. The 42 year-old said, “Football has given me so much and that is why I have so much passion for it. It’s something I can’t let go of, not even for a second.”
“Those of us who have this job must have respect for it because we’re lucky. I want to see people who put passion into it, I want a sense of belonging and respect.”
Napoli could have snatched victory in stoppage time if not for Gianluigi Buffon who made two amazing saves, denying Nikola Maksimovic’s header and Eljif Elmas’ point-black shot coming off a rebound onto the post.
Napoli had the best chances throughout the game leaving a frustrated Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo with little opportunity for possession. Lorenzo Insigne’s 30-metre free kick attempt in the first half was blocked by Buffon while Arkadiusz Milik’s shot went over the bar.
As both the teams are still in the Champions League, Juventus was chasing for the ninth successive title since the initial match as he was drawn from both the games 0-0 in the lead series A.
Since the restart, Juventus has had goalless draws in both their matches and are currently in the lead in Serie A, hoping to bag a ninth successive title. Both teams are still in the Champions League.
