Fiorentina adopt a strikerless system with Giuseppe Rossi on the bench as Gonzalo Higuain starts for Napoli in the Coppa Italia Final.
Fiorentina adopt a strikerless system with Giuseppe Rossi on the bench as Gonzalo Higuain starts for Napoli in the Coppa Italia Final.
It kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome at 20.45 UK time (19.45 GMT) and the trophy will be decided tonight at the end of 90 minutes, otherwise there will be extra time and even penalties.
Vincenzo Montella is forced to do without the injured Mario Gomez and Ante Rebic, but Rossi is back on the bench for the first time since suffering knee ligament damage on January 5.
If he is able to make his comeback, it will be a huge boost for Pepito’s prospects of getting into the Italy World Cup squad.
Juan Guillermo Cuadrado is suspended after a foolish yellow card picked up towards the end of their semi-final, so their form player won’t be able to take part.
Despite the lack of forward options, Alessandro Matri is still dropped to the bench in favour of a strikerless system with Joaquin, Josip Ilicic and Borja Valero.
Goalkeeper Norberto Neto also starts despite a slight knock in training.
Napoli held their collective breath last weekend when Higuain was stretchered off during a 0-0 draw with Inter.
Fears of a fracture were soon assuaged and Pipita is able to play with heavy strapping to that badly bruised right tibia.
He is supported in attack by Lorenzo Insigne, Jose Callejon and Marek Hamsik, while Jorginho starts in midfield.
Christian Maggio is back on the bench for the first time since undergoing emergency surgery on a collapsed lung in February.
Napoli won the Coppa Italia in 2012 by beating Juventus, but this will be Fiorentina’s first Final since their victory over Parma in 2001.
The Viola went bankrupt soon after and began again from Serie C with new owners the Della Valle brothers, so this could culminate the club’s revival.
There have been reports of crowd trouble in the Tor di Quinto area of Rome, as three men have been taken to hospital with injuries caused by either gunfire or a nailbomb.
They are two Napoli supporters and one police officer, two struck in the hand and one in the chest.
Fiorentina: Neto; Tomovic, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Savic, Pasqual; Pizarro, Aquilani, Vargas; Joaquin, Borja Valero, Ilicic
Fiorentina bench: Rosati, Diakite, Compper, Bakic, Fernandez, Ambrosini, Wolski, Anderson, Matos, Matri, Rossi
Napoli: Reina; Henrique, Fernandez, Raul Albiol, Ghoulam; Jorginho, Inler; Insigne, Hamsik, Callejon; Higuain
Napoli bench: Colombo, Dublas, Revelliere, Britos, Maggio, Zuniga, Mesto, Dzemaili, Behrami, Mertens, Pandev, Zapata