Wednesday night brings us the final of the Coppa Italia as Atalanta take on Juventus at the MAPEI Stadium with the winner automatically qualifying for the group stages of the Europa League.
Atalanta bring an impressive string of results into the Italian domestic cup final having put together a 10-match unbeaten run in all competitions which includes eight wins, five of which have also resulted in over 2.5 goals which is perhaps unsurprising as Atalanta possess some key attacking personnel in their line-up.
Goalscoring midfielders Malinovskiy, Ilicic and Pasalic have contributed 20 goals between them and have helped out forwards Muriel (22 goals) and Zapata (15 goals) in the goalscoring duties this season.
Atalanta’s route to this season’s final includes wins against Cagliari 3-1, Lazio 3-2 and a 3-1 win over Napoli in a replay following a 0-0 draw, while seven out of Atalanta’s last 10 Coppa Italia ties have also resulted in over 2.5 goals.
Atalanta Bergamo are expected to be without injured midfielder Kovalenko who is their only absentee.
Juventus head into this Coppa Italia final on the back of two wins on the trot as they’ve registered Serie A wins against Sassuolo 3-1 and also a vital 3-2 home win over Inter Milan which will give them a boost ahead of Wednesday night’s final.
Juventus currently sit in 5th place in Serie A and along with Atalanta, have yet to book their place in next season’s Champions League following some inconsistent results of late in the Italian top flight.
Juve have lost three of their last 11 matches overall in all competitions which have been against Benevento, Wednesday night’s opponents, Atalanta, and AC Milan, the latter being a 3-0 defeat at home.
In the Coppa Italia, Juventus have won just three of their last seven ties so the Old Lady aren’t entirely guaranteed a win in Wednesday night’s final but goals could feature as six of Juventus’s last 10 Coppa Italia ties have also resulted in over 2.5 goals.
Juventus’s obvious goal threat comes in the shape of forward Ronaldo (29 goals) but he’s been well supported by the likes of Dybala (9 goals) and Chiesa (7 goals) as well this season and they too represent a decent chance of some goals in this final.
Both teams will be keen to get this cup final over and done with as they chase Champions League spots and a few goals could unfold here as a result.