AC MILAN

League position: 2nd
Head coach: Maurizio Ganz
Serie A top-scorer: Valentina Giacinti (18)

RECENT FORM

Roma: W D D L D
Milan: W D L D D

These two ended the campaign with intriguingly similar runs of form as each team collected one win, three draws and a single defeat from their final five games in all competitions.

For the Giallorosse, Betty Bavagnoli's side ended the campaign in frustrating fashion after giving up a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Napoli on the final day, while Milan twice came from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw of their own against Hellas Verona.

It meant that Roma ended the campaign in fifth, while Milan secured Champions League football for the first time in their history.

Both clubs were officially founded in 2018 (Milan taking on the infrastructure of Italian women's football giants Brescia, Roma assuming the playing rights of RES Roma) and are thus competing in their first Coppa Italia finals, meaning one team will lift a first-ever piece of major silverware.

ROUTE TO THE FINAL

Roma progressed to the showpiece by comfortably winning Group H, before dismantling Florentia Sangimignano 10-1 over two legs of the quarter-finals.

They then became the first Italian side to beat champions Juventus in two years with a 2-1 home win in the first leg of the semis, before a 3-2 defeat in Turin that saw the Giallorosse progress to the final on away goals.

As for the Rossonere, they also made light work of Group F before successfully navigating a last-eight meeting with Sassuolo by virtue of a sole away goal.

Despite losing the last-four first leg 2-1, Milan then accounted for Inter with a dramatic 4-2 victory that set up their showdown with Roma.

LAST MEETING

DANGER WOMAN
Valentina Giacinti

Italy international Giacinti had another strong season, scoring 18 times in 21 league appearances.

Four of those goals came in a single derby showdown with city rivals Inter, helping to make up the six strikes Giacinti has bagged in her last six appearances.

She should lead the line alongside England’s Natasha Dowie in what is a potent Milan attack and Giacinti will be hoping to improve on her 2017-18 Coppa Italia runners-up medal.

The 27-year-old Milan captain can score with both feet and from pretty much anywhere on the pitch, so will need to be paid close attention to on Sunday.

MATCH STATS

These two teams shared a 0-0 draw the last time they met in the league on 1 May’s dress rehearsal of Sunday’s final.

Their other meeting this season saw Milan seal a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Giacinti shortly after Roma were reduced to 10 players.

Roma were still in the competition last year before coronavirus put an end to the 2019-20 Coppa Italia campaign after the quarter-final stage, which also saw Milan knocked out by Fiorentina.

PLAYER STATS

• Lindsey Thomas has scored in each of her previous three Coppa Italia matches.
  
• Annamaria Serturini, meanwhile, has scored in three of her last four in the cup to go with the Roma top-scorer’s nine league efforts.
  
• Serturini was part of the Brescia squad that lifted the Coppa Italia on two occasions, in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
  
• Brazil internationa Andressa Alves is the top goalscorer in the competition so far for Roma, with five goals.
  
• Maria Korenciova made a total of 10 saves in the Milan goal to the keep the score goalless in their most recent meeting.
  
• Camelia Ceasar and Manuela Giugliano will both be going up against their former side on Sunday.
  
• Elena Linari has won the Coppa Italia more times (3) than any other player involved in Sunday's game.

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS

Milan (3-5-2): Korenciova; Vitale, Agard, Fusetti; Bergamaschi, Vero, Jane, Hasegawa, Tucceri Cimini; Giacinti, Dowie

Roma (4-2-3-1): Ceasar; Soffia, Swaby, Linari, Bartoli; Giugliano, Bernauer; Bonfantini, Thomas, Serturini; Lazaro.

WHAT THEY SAID

“Success breeds success. Beating the champions of Italy has given us confidence and belief in ourselves. We can’t afford to underestimate anyone, though. We are going up against a side that has improved a lot over the season. We will need to be focused on the details.”

- Roma captain Elisa Bartoli

“It’s the dream of both teams to raise the trophy. We’re going about it calmly and we are composed, as we’re trying to keep the tension out of our heads. Eli [Bartoli]’s great strength is her aggression and determination, and you have to respond to it with determination and malice. We must be a team of eleven Bartolis against one Bartoli!”

- Milan captain Giacinti