It’s Coppa Italia time!

Fiorentina vs Inter Milan

It’s almost time for the showpiece of the Italian football season and, given that the 2022-23 Coppa Italia has been a competition of shocks, could one more be in store in the Stadio Olimpico?

However, you won’t need to study the SBOTOP Coppa Italia betting odds – although I suggest you do – to know which team is clear favourites.

It’s Fiorentina, who hail from the beautiful city of Florence, against Inter Milan, one half of the aristocrats of Milan.

While the former are bidding for a first cup triumph since 2001, Inter are the holders.

This also represents one of two chances both clubs have for silverware in the final weeks of the campaign with Fiorentina due to contest the Europa Conference Final in Prague and Inter in next month’s Champions League Final in Istanbul.

Talking Points

Before all that though, and the final Serie A matches of the campaign, there’s time for some more Coppa Italia highlights.

Vincenzo Italiano would earn special status in the city of Florence if he can bring silverware back to the Artemio Franchi Stadium.

The Viola, who drew 1-1 at Torino over the weekend through a Luka Jovic goal, reached the final after seeing off surprise cup underdogs Cremonese.

Now relegated, they had surprisingly knocked out Napoli in the last 16, although the Serie A leaders rested key players with a first title in more than 30 years their priority at the time.

To prove it was no fluke, though, straight after that success they travelled to the Stadio Olimpico and saw off Roma to set up their first Coppa Italia semi-final since 1987.

Yet, Fiorentina had too much in the last four and won the first leg 2-0 with goals from Arthur Cabral and Nicolás González.

With one foot in the final, the second leg ended goalless.

Inter, who claimed their first success in the competition for 11 years last May thanks to an Ivan Perisic brace in extra-time which sealed a thrilling 4-2 triumph over Juventus, faced the same team in their semi-final.

After a first leg draw, the return was decided by a Federico Dimarco goal for a 2-1 aggregate success.

What that all means is that on Wednesday night, Inter will bid to win the competition for the eighth time, Fiorentina for the seventh.

Even before last year, manager Simone Inazghi had been here as he was in charge of Lazio when they defeated Atalanta in the 2019 showpiece.

He is likely to hand goalkeeper Samir Handanovic a start.

Should he lift the trophy, it would probably be a fitting end to the 38 year-old’s Inter career as he has been back-up to long-term successor Andre Onana for most of the season.

The only major absentees for the Nerazzurri are due to be Milan Skriniar and Matteo Poitano, while Fiorentina should be at full strength.

The winner of the Coppa Italia will earn a spot in next season’s Europa League – that should be incentive enough for both teams in case their next final (not to mention Inter’s league position) doesn’t go their way.

History

This has been a game which has produced some classics and Serie A highlights in recent years.

I remember in 2019 when the sides played out a 3-3 draw in Serie A when a first minute own goal gave the hosts the lead before Inter fought back to lead 3-1 through Matias Vecino, Matteo Politano and Perisic before Luis Muriel and a last minute Jordan Veretout penalty left the Florence fans happy.

Two years earlier, Fiorentina edged a nine-goal thriller in front of their own fans – doubles from Vecino, Khoumar Babacar and a header from the late skipper Davide Astori sealed a 5-4 win.

They were well in the ascendancy until two goals in the final three minutes from Mauro Icardi completed his hat-trick and brought Inter back to within a goal.

What was only the Viola’s second success over Inter in their last 15 meetings came last month when Giacomo Bonaventura headed the only goal of the contest eight minutes after the restart to seal a fine win the San Siro.

Inter edged a seven goal thriller in Florence earlier this term when Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a 95^th minute winner, just after Jovic seemed to have rescued Fiorentina a point.

Overall, Inter have 71 league victories against Fiorentina who have won on 45 occasions with a further 54 draws.

Betting Tip

Both have European finals to contest next month and what a confidence boost it would be if they can secure this piece of silverware.

While the heart says Fiorentina, I cannot see past Inter, who have already won the Super Coppa this term.

 

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