Coppa Italia 2018/19: Bologna vs Juventus

After a two-week break, Juventus returned to action to make their fourth defence of the Coppa Italia against lowly Serie A opponents Bologna. The Bianconeri started on the front foot and didnt let off the throttle as they strolled to victory with goals from Bernardeschi and Moise Kean early in the first and second halves respectively.

It was Juve who made the early running at the Stadio Renato DallAra, forcing the home side onto the back foot early on as they dominated possession and territory. The pressure paid off in the ninth minute when Bologna handed their visitors the lead. Back-up goalkeeper Angelo Da Costa attempted to claim Mattia De Sciglios hopeful ball forward, only to crash into Arturo Calabresi. The ball spilled to the feet of Filippo Bernardeschi who finished from 18 yards out.

Juve all but sealed the game just four minutes into the second half when the bright Douglas Costa was put through on the right channel. Making a rare appearance was Moise Kean, who was quickest to tap past the sprawling Da Costa to claim just his second goal as a Juventus player, both coming against Bologna.

The teams

Bologna boss Inzaghi is hanging onto his job by a thread. With big games at the bottom of the table to come against SPAL and Frosinone, he used his first game of the new year to test his latest signings.

Angelo Da Costa started in goal to replace Lukasz Skorupski who played behind a 5-3-2 formation with Calabresi, Danilo and Filip Helander as three central defenders. They were flanked by ex-Juventus right-back Federico Mattiello and left-back Mitchel Dijks. The back five were screened by Roberto Soriano, Eric Pulgar and Mattias Svanberg, with new arrival Nicola Sansone and form-chasing Mattia Destro leading the line.