Rome, May 19 : Juventus is looking to cap its undefeated season by adding the Italian Cup to its Serie A title when it meets Napoli in the final on Sunday.
The Bianconeri completed the recovery from its darkest period following the 2006 match-fixing scandal as it lifted its first Serie A title in nine years last week, sparking scenes of jubilation in Turin.
“On Sunday we will try to win another trophy in the Italian Cup final,” Juventus midfielder Luca Marrone said. “Napoli is a great team, it's not going through a very fortunate period, but in a one-off game anything can happen.
“We are ready, the celebrations are already behind us and the coach immediately prepared us in the right way.”
It has been a long road since the 2005 and ‘06 titles were stripped from Juventus and it was relegated to Serie B but finally under young coach Antonio Conte, one of Italy's oldest clubs is proving it is back to its best once more.
Should Juventus win, it will have gone the entire season unbeaten in all competitions.
It is legendary striker Alessandro Del Piero's last game for Juventus. Del Piero, who scored in his last Serie A game for the club, has spent most of his career at Juventus after signing from Padova in 1993 and he will be hoping to complete a dream farewell campaign.
Juventus will be without key defender Giorgio Chiellini, who picked up a thigh injury in the last match against Atalanta.
Juventus wants to add a third gold star to the two already on the team shirts, as it counts the two titles it was stripped of, and debate over whether the club should be allowed is set to rumble throughout the offseason.
If it wins on Sunday, however, it can add a silver star, to mark a 10th Italian Cup victory. It currently stands level with Roma as the club to have won most in the competition.
Juventus has not won the cup since 1995, losing finals to Parma and Lazio since then.
Napoli has lifted the trophy three times, with its last victory coming in 1987. It has reached two finals since then, losing to Sampdoria and Vicenza.
“We will give everything Sunday,” Napoli captain Paolo Cannavaro said. “It's an important date for us, it will be a match to make history in and who manages to play better will take the Cup home.
“We know that Juventus is strong and that it more than deserved the league this year. They say that appetite for success comes with winning, but we are really hungry for this victory. This is a Cup that Napoli has lacked for 25 years and we want to give this joy to our fans, it would be amazing.”
It is almost certain to be Ezequiel Lavezzi's last game for Napoli with the Argentina forward set to leave in the offseason after the club failed to qualify for the Champions League.
The sides have met eight times in the Italian Cup—including two two-legged ties—with Juventus winning five matches and Napoli three.
Napoli drew 3-3 at home to Juventus this season, but lost 3-0 in Turin.
