MILAN • Maurizio Sarri has an axe to grind with his former club Napoli, and he is relishing the opportunity to beat them in the Italian Cup final today.
The 61-year-old is seeking his first trophy as Juventus coach, days before Serie A resumes after a three-month shutdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
Juve are chasing a record-extending 14th Italian Cup against five-time winners Napoli in Rome, after the Turin giants' four-year Cup-winning streak was ended last season.
Sarri took over at Juve one year ago after a season with Chelsea during which the Premier League side won the Europa League.
Before that, he spent three seasons with Napoli from 2015 to 2018, battling Juve for the title, and subsequently fell out with club owner Aurelio de Laurentiis.
Sarri claimed that he found out he had been sacked in May 2018 and replaced by Carlo Ancelotti only when he switched on the television.
But de Laurentiis blasted his former coach on Monday, in clear evidence that there is still strong hostility between Sarri and Napoli.
"He (Sarri) betrayed me, he left with the vulgar excuse of money, forced me to change (head coaches), and still had a two-year contract," he said in Corriere dello Sport.
"In February, he invited me to lunch in Tuscany... He didn't mention stopping and led me on all the way to the day ahead of the last game. That created uncertainties for the club."
Sarri's return to Napoli's Stadio San Paolo ended in a 2-1 league defeat in January.
But the Italian will have another chance for just the second trophy of his 30-year coaching career at an empty Stadio Olimpico.
A win would help the eight-time defending Serie A champions set the tone when the title battle resumes, with Lazio (62) just one point behind in second place.
Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain, who helped Napoli to their last Italian Cup triumph in 2014 and was Serie A's top scorer with 36 goals under Sarri in the 2015-2016 season, remains a doubt for the Turin side with a thigh injury.
Giorgio Chiellini and Aaron Ramsey are also unfit for the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed a penalty in last Friday's semi-final second leg against AC Milan, will start up front for Juventus.
Meanwhile, Napoli winger Dries Mertens is fresh from breaking the club's all-time scoring record with a semi-final second-leg goal against Inter Milan. The Belgian has accumulated 122 goals, one more than Slovak Marek Hamsik.
Ronaldo, who has scored 25 goals in all competitions this season, can lift a 30th career trophy in Rome, and Sarri is hopeful that his squad can get back in the groove soon.
"The missed penalty was unfortunate," said Sarri.
"It will take a little patience. The players have been on their sofas for weeks, and so getting them back to complete physical and mental efficiency is not simple or automatic."
Napoli are sixth in Serie A but nine points off the Champions League spots, and chasing their first trophy since 2014, after a difficult start to the season with Gennaro Gattuso replacing Ancelotti in December.
The last time the two teams met in a final was the Italian Super Cup in December 2014, with Napoli coming out on top.
They last met in an Italian Cup final eight years ago, with Napoli winning 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico for their first major trophy in 22 years.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
