Coppa Italia Frecciarossa

History and cup records

The 78th edition of the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa Final: let’s discover some of the history and records

Everything is set for the final of the 78th edition of the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa that will see AC Milan face Bologna, the only two teams left of the 44 that entered the competition (20 Serie A teams, 20 Serie B and 4 Serie C) that began on 3 August. The trophy that will be lifted to the sky in Rome hasn’t always been in this form and stylistically it was very different: the original edition of the cup, won in 1922 by Vado, had a more triangular form and it was abolished during the 20-year fascist, before the same trophy was used from 1936 to 1943 and from 1958 to 1959. The Cup in its current form has been used since 1960, made in pure gold and it remains in the hands of the winners for a year, before being returned to the Lega Serie A in exchange for a copy to be displayed. Over it’s 102 years of existence, 16 teams have won the Coppa Italia, from Vado in the first edition in 1922, to last year’s winners Juventus who triumphed with a win over Atalanta: the record of titles won does indeed belong to the Bianconeri on 14 (including four consecutive wins from 2015 to 2018, a record streak) followed by Inter and Roma on nine and Lazio on seven. Six wins, however, for Fiorentina and Napoli.

Vado, in 1922, and Napoli in 1961-62, are the only two teams not in Serie A to win the trophy.

In this season, there can no longer be the Coppa/Scudetto double as Napoli, current league-leaders, were eliminated by Lazio in the Round of 16, while Inter, were knocked out by AC Milan in the semis.

Roberto Mancini is the player with the most appearances in the competition with 120 games played, followed by Giuseppe Bergomi on 119 (all with Inter) and Pieto Vierchowod on 116. The most-capped player still in the competition ****is ****Lorenzo De Silvestri, currently ****on 42. The Rossoneri’s all-time most capped player is Franco Bareri with 97 games played, while for Bologna it is Tazio Roversi with 79 appearances between 1963 and 1979. The managers with the most games are Trapattoni (157), followed by Liedholm (145) and Mazzone (142).

Once again Roberto Mancini, alongside Gigi Buffon, have the most wins as players in the competition with six trophies, while the ex-Italy manager actually has won eight if you count those as a manager. Others with four titles include Mancini, Sven-Göran Eriksson, while Massimiliano Allegri jumped to five with last year’s trophy. With regards to goalscorers in the Coppa, the all time top-scorer is Alessandro Altobelli on 56 goals, followed by Roberto Boninsegna on 48 and Giuseppe Savoldi on 47. With regards to players who competed this year, Paulo Dybala has the most with 13, followed by Ciro Immobile on 12. Then Federico Chiesa on 11 and Gianluca Scamacca, Gianluca Lapadula and Dusan Valhovic on 9. AC Milan’s all-time top scorer in the competition is Gianni Rivera with 28 goals, while Giuseppe Savoldi is the top scorer for Bologna on 27.

Gianluca Vialli scored the most goals in a single Coppa Italia tournament: 13, with Sampdoria in 1988-89.

Maurizio Mariani will take charge of the final: Paolo Casarin, Pierluigi Collina and Gianluca Paparesta are the referees with the most Coppa Italia finals, four each.