Gennaro Gattuso took over the job of Napoli, which
rediscovered their lost mojo under Maurizio Sarri and cut a satisfactory figure
in the Champions League under Carlo Ancelotti. Gattuso left San Siro after
spending a brief period without experiencing enough sweet memories. In 2018, he
witnessed AC Milan lost to Juventus in the Coppa Italia, and at that point of
time, he might not have even realized, God would give him a second chance.
In a night of Italian football festival at Stadio Olimpico,
where Maurizio Sarri, who was a hero at Napoli after he almost led the club to
a Serie A title in 2018 before losing out to Juve, was looking to beat his
former club in order to claim his first trophy in Italian football. But it was
Gattuso, who laughed the last smile and even, he and Napoli let Cristiano
Ronaldo lose two consecutive finals for the first time in his league career.
Juventus were the favourites to win despite a dull show in
the semifinals.
Their start was promising as well.
Juve’s best opportunity arrived in the first five minutes of
the final, but Meret was equal to Ronaldo's low shot after Dybala pounced on a
defensive error.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Lorenzo Insigne's curling
free-kick bounced away off the left-hand post.
Bufon felt the heat as a goal was heading into the interval,
which blocked with his legs from Diego Demme's drive and then touched another
Insigne attempt around the post.
Napoli substitute Arkadiusz Milik blasted off target from a
dangerous position in the second period, while Insigne was similarly wayward
when he encountered a tight angle.
Further Buffon heroics were reserved for the final seconds
of stoppage time, as the World Cup winner got down to Nikola Maksimovic's
powerful header before helping to divert Eljif Elmas' close-range follow-up
away via the upright.
After a goalless ending, the match would be decided by
penalties.
Alex Meret - only playing due to David Ospina's suspension -
saved from Paulo Dybala, before Danilo missed the target entirely and triggered
a celebration in the Napoli camp.
They had conquered Stadio Olympico!
Napoli showed better intent than Juve.
A lot was expected from Cristiano Ronaldo, but he lacked the
cutting edge.
Ronaldo just had three shots and hit the target with once
whereas he did not get the chance to take a spot-kick as Gennaro Gattuso's men
were declared winners before his turn came around.
After losing the Supercoppa Italiana to Lazio at the end of
last year, it is the second straight final defeat for Juventus. Again, Ronaldo
has contested many domestic and continental finals with every team he has
represented so far in his illustrious career, but never before he had lost two
in a row.
Gattuso was a happy man. As a manager life has not been rosy
for him and losing his sister gave him enough sadness and for which this
victory was much needed to calm down a restless heart, which had digested
enough pangs and anxieties.
Napoli and Gattuso would start dreaming big!
Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 18/06/2020 Napoli of Gattuso upset Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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