Juventus vs Lazio

A place in the Coppa Italia showpiece is up for grabs as Juventus and Lazio square off in the first leg of their mouth-watering semi-final tie at the Allianz Stadium.

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has come under heavy scrutiny after Adam Marusic’s stoppage-time strike toppled ‘I Bianconeri’ 1-0 at the weekend, tipping the recent H2H stakes in Lazio’s favor (W2, L1). Despite Allegri’s faint effort to defend his squad in the post-match conference, the record-time Italian champions come into this ‘make or break’ tie amidst a severe crisis, having won just one of their last nine Serie A matches (D4, L4). Back-to-back scoring blanks in the lead-up to this contest don’t make for good reading as Juventus aim to get a step closer to winning their first piece of silverware since 2021. Neither does a four-game winless streak (D2, L2), though they can fall back on a rock-solid run of five wins from their last six home H2Hs (D1).

In the meantime, Lazio’s mini-revival since Maurizio Sarri’s abrupt exit has seen them beat Frosinone 3-2 before taking down Juventus with the last kick of the game on Igor Tudor’s touchline debut. Craving revenge for a narrow 1-0 loss in last season’s Coppa Italia quarter-finals, ‘I Biancocelesti’ will hope to make the most out of their first semi-final appearance since 2018/19, when they went on to seize the trophy under Simone Inzaghi’s tutelage. With the visitors looking to build a head of steam ahead of next weekend’s Derby della Capitale against Roma, ending an underwhelming seven-game winless run in Turin would be a substantial confidence boost (D1, L6). But they must shore up their defensive gaps to make it happen, having capitulated multiple times across their last three competitive road trips (W1, L2).