Juventus captain and goalkeeper Gianluiggi Buffon and coach Massimiliano Allegri attend a press conference on the eve of the Supercoppa match at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium yesterday. (Right) Napoli defender Christian Maggio at the press conference. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil


By Joe Koraith/Doha

The 27th edition of the Supercoppa will be played today between defending Serie A champions Juventus and the 2013-14 Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) winners Napoli at the Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad stadium (Al Sadd stadium).   
That’s the bigger picture. But it has so many subplots that if one were looking to turn it into a movie, you could make multiple sequels - each of them a blockbuster.
There is the battle between two great strikers, the tussle between two famous coaches and needless to say a clash between two teams, each looking to snatch an important slice of history. And then there’s the history between these two teams when it comes to this specific competition.
Let’s look at the teams first. Juventus are currently leading the Serie A standings while Napoli are down in third, twelve points off. These two haven’t faced each other in the Serie A yet. In their last meeting, which was last season’s Serie A encounter, Napoli had defeated Juventus 2-0.
Overall, however, Juventus are far ahead, having won 16 out of the 33 matches while Napoli have won only 8. In the Supercoppa, Napoli have played just twice, both against Juventus. They won the battle in 1990 with a spectacular 5-1 win, but lost in 2012, 2-4 on penalties.
Juventus, on the other hand, are on a record-breaking and -seeking spree. They will be playing in their record 10th Supercoppa and are looking for a record seventh title. If they win, they will go ahead of AC Milan, who have six titles. They have also won the previous two editions of the Supercoppa.
“Napoli are a high-profile team – a team that is difficult to play against and win. From the tactical and physical perspective, it’s a single match which means that we have no room for mistakes,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri during the pre-match press conference yesterday.  
“Juve are leading the championship but we are focussed on this match and what counts is the will to win. We have defeated Juve in the past and have done it in the best way possible. They are a difficult team but we have faith that we can do a repeat of the win over Juve which we have achieved in the past,” said Napoli coach Rafael Benitez yesterday.
On paper, Juventus are the stronger team. They boast of stars like Carloz Tevez, Gianluigi Buffon, Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal, Fernando Llorente and, of course, Andrea ‘Metronome’ Pirlo. Napoli will be banking on the brilliance of Gonzalo Higuain up front with support coming from Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon.
Juve endured three draws before they got the win against Cagliari. Napoli too claimed their first win in five matches when they beat Parma in their last match.  
“At the beginning of the Serie A season we did well and then our form dipped a bit but we are now back to winning. And winning the SuperCoppa will be a great way to wrap up 2014,” said Allegri.
Benitez said that the form in the league will not be a factor for today’s match. “I have said in the past that this is the final. It’s a single match. So we are focusing on this match. We have to do so for 90 minutes, maybe more and we are going to do that while firmly believing that we are going to do well.”
Juve will be hoping that their star players can deliver and leading from the front will be skipper Gianluigi Buffon. The star goalkeeper is keen for his team to add to their stack of Supercoppa trophies.
“This match is all about winning. We have won previous Supercoppas and we want to add another one. Fame and reputation will have a big role to play in the match. Being a single match, at any time there can be a loss in concentration that could prove to be costly. So there all the ingredients for us to do our very best,” said Buffon yesterday.



 

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