After four rounds of football, and some high-octane clashes in the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, Coppa Italia 2016-17 has moved into the business end of the competition. Four heavyweights of Italian football — Napoli, Juventus, Roma and Lazi — have reached the semifinals of the competition, and it could be anybody's game for the title.
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Juventus will play against Napoli while Lazio face Roma in the other semifinals, which are going to be played across two legs. In the first leg, Juventus will host Napoli in Turin on Wednesday (March 1), and Lazio will go head-to-head against Roma on Thursday (March 2).
All the teams understand the importance of starting the first leg on a winning note, which will make both the matches interesting during this week. However, away teams in the first leg – Napoli and Roma – fully understand how an away goal could prove to be handy in the second leg.
Out of the two semifinals, it is the Juventus vs Napoli clash which could be a humdinger of a contest as both the teams have played some good football in the Serie A. Juventus lie at top of the table while Napoli are third.
Juventus defeated Atalanta and AC Milan in their last two matches to book their semis spot while Napoli got the better off Spezia and Fiorentina to set up this clash. With both teams showing confidence, one can expect a close clash between the two teams in the Coppa Italia semifinal.
However, the other match featuring Roma and Lazio could also be interesting with both the teams having done fairly well in the competition. Roma defeated Sampdoria and Cesena. Lazio beat Genoa and Inter Milan.
None of the four semifinalists can bank on their recent good performances in Coppa Italia, and they need to play consistent football in both the legs to reach the final.
Here is a complete schedule of Coppa Italia seifinals first leg
Juventus vs Napoli (first leg)
Date: March 1
Time: 8:45 pm local time (1.15 am IST, 2:45 pm EST, 7:45 pm GMT).
Venue: Juventus Stadium
Lazio vs Roma (first leg)
Date: March 2
Time: 8:45 pm local time (1.15 am IST, 2:45 pm EST, 7:45 pm GMT).
Venue: Stadio Olimpico
Napoli vs Juventus (second leg)
Date: April 5
Venue: Stadio San Paolo
Roma vs Lazio (second leg)
Date: April 5
Venue: Stadio Olimpico
TV listings: India: Neo Prime, Neo Sports. UK: Sky Sports 4. USA: Gol TV, Fubo TV. Italy: RAI Uno.
