EA SPORTS FC Supercup: Napoli Bologna battle out

All or nothing in one night! Napoli and Bologna will contest the 38th edition of the EA SPORTS FC Super Cup. As tradition dictates—though in recent years this has been far from a foregone conclusion, given that last season Milan, runners-up in the previous league campaign, lifted the trophy—the reigning Italian champions will face the holders of the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa. Napoli reached the final by eliminating Milan in Thursday’s first semi-final, winning 2–0 thanks to goals from Neres and Højlund, while Bologna got the better of Inter in a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw, with goals from Thuram and Orsolini. This will be the second meeting between the two sides this season: on November 9, Italiano’s men defeated Conte’s team 2–0 at the Dall’Ara (Dallinga and Lucumì).

HEAD TO HEAD

The two teams have met 151 times in official competitions: 61 Napoli wins, 43 draws, and 47 Bologna victories.

DID YOU KNOW

Bologna’s first-ever win in the history of the single-round Serie A format came against Napoli on 27 October 1929 (Matchday 4 of the first half of the season): a 3–1 win for Bologna with goals by Pilati IV, Maini and Schiavio, while Buscaglia scored for Napoli.

COACH and PLAYERS

Antonio Conte and Vincenzo Italiano have faced each other five times in official matches: two wins for the Napoli coach, one for the Bologna coach, and two draws. Antonio Conte will be taking part in the Supercoppa as a coach for the third time. He won both of his previous appearances, in 2012/13 and 2013/14 (in the latter edition, Massimo Carrera was on the Juventus bench). As a player, Conte made two appearances in the competition, both for Juventus, scoring one goal and winning the 1995/96 and 1997/98 editions. Vincenzo Italiano will be making his second Supercoppa appearance as a coach: he led Fiorentina in 2023, but they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Napoli (0–3). Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Matteo Politano are the Napoli players with the most appearances in the competition, with four each. If Lorenzo De Silvestri were to feature against Napoli, he would become the third-oldest player to appear in a Supercoppa match, aged 37 years, 7 months and 12 days. Javier Zanetti ranks second (37 years, 11 months and 27 days), while Gianluigi Buffon tops the list (39 years, 6 months and 16 days). He would also become the oldest goalscorer in the competition. Ciro Immobile is the player in Bologna’s current squad with the most Supercoppa goals: two goals in three appearances, both scored for Lazio—including a brace in August 2017 against Juventus in the final, which Lazio won 3–2.

DISCIPLINE

Suspended: none Cautioned: none

REFEREE

COLOMBO (BERTI – VECCHI) IV: LA PENNA, VAR: DI BELLO, AVAR: PEZZUTO

UPCOMING MATCHES

Cremonese-Napoli (Sunday, December 28, 15.00 CET) Bologna-Sassuolo (Sunday, December 28, 18.00 CET) (Photo Getty Images)