Inter Milan, defending champions, and Fiorentina, deprived of trophies for two decades, are fighting on Wednesday (9:00 p.m.) in Rome for the Italian Cup final, dreaming of a possible double before the European finals which await them.
If the Nerazzurri have never overshadowed Naples in the league, Simone Inzaghi’s team can still win all the other competitions in which they have participated this season.
After the Italian Super Cup victory in January against AC Milan (3-0), this dream goes through a success on Wednesday at the Stadio Olimpico, before the big piece: the Champions League final against the ogre Manchester City on June 10, in Istanbul.
Title holders in “Coppa Italia”, semi-final scorer for Juventus Turin (1-1, 1-0) and the first Italian team to reach a C1 final since 2017, Inter are clearly favorites. The main danger on the road to a ninth Italian Cup would be to have your head already in Istanbul, Erling Haaland and his whole gang.
“It’s a risk. It is normal that the concentration is often more on the most important, but it is up to the coach, the club, the players, to find the attention required to face all the commitments, “said the managing director on Monday. Giuseppe Marotta, on Radio Rai1.
“The Italian Cup is a trophy of great prestige, which we hold dear. I am sure that the players will find concentration, against a very high quality opponent,” added the manager.
Simone Inzaghi has once again demonstrated that he is a coach adept at cutting matches. A cup specialist, he brilliantly took his team with him to the C1 and Italian Cup finals.
A bit like Inter, not yet assured of a place in C1 next season, Fiorentina disappointed in the league (11th, two days from the end). But the Viola has also redeemed itself with the cups, with in particular a Europa League Conference final to be played on June 7 against West Ham.
In the Italian Cup, the Viola benefited in its table from the missteps of AC Milan, its opponent promised in the quarter, and Naples, which could fall to it in the semi-finals, two teams fallen in the eighth.
Nevertheless, she arrives with steely morale, determined to win her seventh Italian Cup, 22 years after the last in 2001, which is also the Florentine club’s latest trophy. “We will have to play as we are: a really unpredictable team. We have great confidence,” said sports director Daniele Pradè.
Far from enjoying a squad as big as Inter’s, Viola coach Vincenzo Italiano, 45, whose reputation continues to grow in Italian football, admitted his side were “exhausted” after fought on all fronts.
“But I am convinced that we will recover all our energy, at least to put in difficulty one of the best teams in Italy. We will do our best and give everything we have”, launched the technician, whose name is cited by the press as a possible successor to Luciano Spalletti in Naples if the latter leaves the club after the title of champion.
“We will have to be patient while trying not to make mistakes,” he also said. These players know how to do it because in the league, the last confrontation against Inter gave birth to a Florentine success (1-0), at San Siro in early April. A success would plunge Florence into intoxication and will already lock qualification in the Europa League before a possible historic double.
