Napoli wins Coppa Italian against a Juventus “lacking sharpness.”

News highlights:

• Napoli wins Coppa Italian 4-2 on penalty

• The win’s Gennaro Gattuso’s first title as a manager

Napoli lifted the Coppa Italia with a 4-2 penalty shootout triumph over Juventus and former coach Maurizio Sarri on Thursday (AEST) following a dire goalless draw.

The Partenopei deserved their sixth cup triumph after passing up some big chances in the 90 minutes as Juve’s star attackers failed to show at the Stadio Olimpico.

During the penalty shoot-out, Lorenzo Insigne, Matteo Politano, Nikola Maksimovic and Arkadiusz Milik all converted their chances for Napoli but Paulo Dybala and Danilo missed their efforts for Juventus while Leonardo Bonucci and Aaron Ramsey scored the last two.

Maurizio Sarri claims Cristiano Ronaldo is ‘lacking sharpness’ following Juventus’ defeat.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward did not take a penalty in the shootout as he was being held back for the fifth spot-kick. And after the defeat, Sarri claimed that Ronaldo is still not at his best.
‘He’s in the same shape as the others, like Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa, he is lacking the sharpness to do what works best for him,’ Sarri told RAI.
‘I didn’t say much to the players after the game. I was angry and disappointed just like them, so at these moments it’s best to stay silent.
‘We’ll talk better tomorrow morning.’
Sarri also believes that Juve’s lack of sharpness cost them against Napoli.

‘There is disappointment for the club, the players and the fans, but at this moment we cannot do much more, because we are lacking sharpness,’ said the former Chelsea boss.
‘We were missing a few players and had to make some different choices to usual, because our fitness levels are not optimal. We keep the ball well, but lack the sharpness to turn that into dangerous scoring opportunities.

‘We are struggling to get past opposition players when taking men on, we have a team built on individuals who can usually do that very well.
‘I don’t think we’re lacking determination, because we were totally concentrated for 90 minutes and you can’t do that without determination.
‘I think the problem is the characteristics, because these are players accustomed to taking men on and at the moment that’s just not coming off.’

Besides Buffon, there was scarcely a player in the Juve ranks who could take pride in his efforts here. Sloppy play in defence led to the openings that Buffon brilliantly closed, while they posed little threat going the other way.