Juventus will hope to defend their lead from the first leg and progress to the Coppa Italia finals when they face Lazio tonight at the Stadio Olimpico.
Juventus come into this match on the back of a 2-2 draw with Cagliari. Gianluca Gaetano and Yerry Mina doubled the hosts’ lead through consecutive penalty strikes as the Bianconeri equalised the scores courtesy of Dusan Vlahovic’s 61st-minute goal and forcing an Alberto Dossena own goal late in the match. Juventus have a two-goal cushion tonight after Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic’s strikes in the first leg and manager Massimiliano Allegri will hope to keep his side compact to defend the lead in front of a hostile crowd. It has been an incredible rebuilding job by the Italian manager after underwhelming performances last season as the Old Lady are now favourites to bag some silverware this campaign.
Meanwhile, it would take a gigantic effort from Lazio to overturn the deficit and take the lead tonight against a defensively hardened Juventus side. The Biancocelesti have hopes to finish top-five this season and qualify for the new format of the Champions League after Roma’s loss to Bologna this past Serie A matchday. Igor Tudor’s men have scored five goals across their last two matches and they would need their shooting boots set in the highest gear to set up a spirited contest against their Turin-based counterparts.
Lazio (3-4-2-1): Mandas; Casale, Romagnoli, Gila; Marusic Kamada, Vecino, Hysaj; Felipe Anderson, Luis Alberto; Castellanos.
Juventus (3-5-2): Perin; Rugani, Bremer, Danilo; Cambiaso, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Vlahovic, Chiesa.
Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN
