Juventus vs Milan
Rome’s Olympic Stadium is the place to be on Wednesday night when two Italian giants, one sleeping and the other sweeping all before it, meet in the Coppa Italia.
Milan, for so long the best side in Italy, are hoping to end Juventus’ hopes of winning a fourth successive Coppa final and a likely domestic double. But the latest football betting odds say that a Milan victory would be something of a surprise, with Gennaro Gattuso’s team at 4.20 to win while the Bianconeri are odds-on favourites at 1.86 and the 90-minute draw is at 3.30.
But the best football bets may be on ‘unders and overs’ as this is a meeting of two world-class defensive units which have conceded only 63 league goals in 72 matches combined—Max Allegri’s Juve just 23 of those.
And this is a game the legendary Gianluigi Buffon will be desperate to win. The 40-year-old keeper wants to finish the season with a bang after his Champions League heartbreak. At the end of that match, you could see the passion coursing through the great man’s veins after Real Madrid had snatched victory in the most controversial circumstances.
In front of him, Buffon has bags of defensive experience in the form of the tough Giorgio Chiellini and 34-year-old Swiss full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner, who has announced this will be his Juve swansong, saying: “We must focus on Wednesday because we have a trophy to win.”
And you have to wonder just how any attack could breach that wall of defiance, let alone Milan’s. The Rossoneri came through a tense battle with Lazio in the semis, winning on penalties after two goalless draws thanks to Lazio’s unlucky Luiz Felipe lifting the vital penalty over the bar.
Failing to break down Lazio’s defence over three hours is one thing, but now Gattuso’s front men have an entirely different task ahead—one which falls on the young shoulders of Patrick Cutrone who has eight league goals for Milan to add to his two in the Coppa. There are high expectations for the 20-year-old who was rewarded for his promise with a full international call-up in Italy’s 2-0 defeat to Argentina last March.
Supply and support for Cutrone come in the form of influential midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura, who has weighed in with seven crucial league goals. But compare that with the Old Lady’s strike force of the formidable 16-goal man Gonzalo Higuain and 22-goal Paulo Dybala, and it looks a little lightweight.
You have to say though, the Bianconeri didn’t exactly blow Atalanta away in its semi-final win. Juventus won both legs with a single goal, the first courtesy of Higuain and the second when Miralem Pjanic slotted home a penalty after Blaise Matuidi was up ended in the box. But not before Atalanta had given Buffon and his defensive unit quite a scare, hitting the bar with the match in the balance.
Formidable maybe but Allegri’s team isn’t unbeatable. This looks like it could be a tight affair, and all the best betting sites point to that! We’re offering a great range of Asian Handicap Betting at SBOBET to take the fun to another level.
Under 2.25 goals looks a decent punt at 1.89, and between 2 and 3 goals is at 1.84.
Hence, a speculative bet on a 1-1 draw is one of the most likely outcomes at odds of 6.00.
And I suspect that to be in the game throughout would suit Gattuso just fine. The Milan boss is Rossoneri through and through, playing 387 times as a combative midfielder for the team he adores.
Gattuso took the reins at the Giuseppe Meazza after a shocking first half of a season in which they were expected to challenge for honours. He was even widely expected to be just a caretaker, keeping the seat warm for the return to Italy of Chelsea’s unsettled boss Antonio Conte.
However, a post-Christmas 13-match unbeaten run changed all that. Not that Gattuso got carried away. He said: “I’ve gained a lot of experience and still have a lot to learn. Lately people are talking too much. It’s as if I’ve become some guru of coaching….I’m not!”
Well guru or not, the Milan fans love their man and would give the world for a first Coppa win since 2003. As would ex-Bianconeri star Leonardo Bonucci, now the rock at the heart of Milan’s defence. He won’t be losing any sleep for his former team-mates, homing in on a seventh successive Scudetto.
Bonucci was a winner in the 2016 Coppa final when Juve beat Milan, with Alvaro Morata coming off the bench to score an extra-time winner as they become the first team to win back-to-back domestic doubles.
Now, he just wants Milan to stop his old mates doing it again.
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
