Jubilant Juventus squad after Coppa Italia triumph Picture Credit: Juventus Twitter
Federico Chisea scored the decisive goal as Juventus edged Atalanta 2-1 in the Copa Italia final to clinch their record-extending 14th title. While it has been a disappointing maiden season at the helm for Andrea Pirlo with Juve getting knocked out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage by Porto and the Italian giants getting dethroned as Serie A champions by Inter Milan, this comes as a huge boost for the Bianconeri. This was also the first Italian Cup title for star forward Cristiano Ronaldo after Juventus had lost the final last year.
However, it wasn't that easy for them as they looked set for more misery when Ruslan Malinovskiy cancelled out Dejan Kulusevski's fine strike before half-time. But the experienced campaigners stormed back in the second half and sealed a win in their 20th Italian Cup final, granted to them courtesy of a brilliant finish from Chiesa with 17 minutes to go.
Last trophy of Gianluigi Buffon's glittering career with Juventus
The trophy bears more significance specially for the likes of Buffon as it is set to be the last of his glittering career.
"Today was a great emotion. To finish like this makes me proud and I was delighted to share with my teammates many adventures up to this final," the 43-year-old said after the match.
"The fans today were the icing on the cake," he added.
"They, the Juventus people, the managers, the president and my teammates will always be a part of my life. I think I have given so much love, professionalism, pride and courage every time I took to the field with this shirt and I am proud of this," he further said.
Juve's UCL hopes hanging by a thread
Meanwhile, Juve's hopes of a Champions League qualification hang by a thread as they find themselves at the fifth place with 75 points from 37 matches, a point behind third and fourth placed AC Milan and Napoli.