League and Cup winners Juventus paraded their double haul of trophies in Turin on their way to a 3-1 win over Napoli Saturday which left Rafa Benitez's men walking a Champions League qualifying tightrope.
Juventus outclassed Lazio 2-1 in the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) final on Wednesday to secure their first double since 1995 and with two weeks to go until their Champions League final have already turned their attention towards beating Barcelona in Berlin.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri rested defenders Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Patrice Evra, midfielders Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo as well as strikers Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente for the champions' final Serie A home game of the season.
Napoli travelled to Turin looking for a win that would maintain their hopes of a top three finish and a possible place in next season’s Champions League.
But the carrot of beating what was effectively a second-string Juventus side failed to tempt Napoli, who following a bright start quickly looked out of their depth.
In the end, the visitors finished with ten men after Miguel Britos saw red for headbutting striker Alvaro Morata.
As Benitez and his team continued to boycott media, Allegri said his players’ performance had given him reassurances about their potential for Berlin.
“The lads are in good condition and played well, especially after the interval. They could have been a bit less fanciful, but I’m not going to blame them for that,” said Allegri.
“Heading into the final, we’re in a pretty good place. But you only win games on the pitch, not before.”
Juventus opened the scoring through Roberto Pereyra on 13 minutes and despite David Lopez levelling for the visitors when he smashed home the rebound after Gianluigi Buffon saved a penalty from Lorenzo Insigne, Juventus were unstoppable.
Stefano Sturaro scored a great individual goal to restore Juve’s lead on 77 minutes and at the death Napoli self-imploded.
Britos saw red for a clear headbutt on Morata in the area, and second-half substitute Simone Pepe stepped up to smash the resulting penalty past Mariano Andujar.
Napoli’s defeat means Lazio, who sit three points ahead in third place, now require only a point from the city derby against AS Roma on Monday to make sure of at least a third place finish to claim the league’s final Champions League spot.
Even if Napoli upset predictions and finish among the top three, Benitez already looks to have planned his future elsewhere.
The Spaniard is rumoured to have already agreed in principle to take over at Real Madrid after Carlo Ancelotti’s failure to lead the 10-time European champions into the Champions League final following an aggregate defeat to Juve.
On their penultimate game of the season, Benitez’s players looked like they had their heads elsewhere too.
Belgian international Dries Mertens looked dangerous in the opening exchanges and tested Buffon twice before Juventus found their rhythm and stamped their mark on the game.
It took only 13 minutes for Juve to open their account, Pereyra smashing the ball past Mariano Andujar after being sent through by Kevin Coman’s delightfully-weighted chip.
Gonzalo Higuain, who like Benitez is being rumoured to be on his way out of the club, did little with his first-half chances and was replaced at half-time by Manolo Gabbiadini.
Allegri had given Kwadwo Asamoah his first start in several months and shortly after the restart the Ghana international displayed speed and impressive ball control on his way to sending his drive from distance just over.
Paul Pogba and then Morata saw drives from distance saved by Andujar but Napoli upped the tempo late in the second half to give the hosts a scare.
In the final minute of regulation time Buffon produced a great reflex save on his line to stop Gabbiadini’s glancing header from Jose Callejon’s cross.
That was the visitors’ last real chance, and tensions boiled over in stoppage time when Britos was sent off after clearly headbutting Morata and leaving the Spaniard on the ground.
In Saturday’s late game, Genoa moved up to fifth with a 3-2 win over eighth-placed Inter Milan, which should guarantee them a ticket to the Europa League as long as they can resolve their differences with Uefa over their financial status.
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