Friday 20 May 2016 11:59, UK
The contrasting form of AC Milan forward Mario Balotelli and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba reflect their teams' fortunes ahead of the Coppa Italia final, writes Adam Digby...
Recent seasons have seen the Coppa Italia - Italy's only domestic cup competition - return to prominence, the final restored to its traditional end-of-season place on the schedule and become a one-off showpiece at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
Having previously been shunted around the calendar and played over two legs, this year's edition arguably sees the nation's two biggest clubs go head-to-head in an encounter that both teams will be desperate to win.
Milan have not reached this stage of the competition since they lifted the trophy in 2003, a victory which came just a few days after they beat Juventus in that year's Champions League final.
The Rossoneri would, of course, repeat their European triumph in 2007 and be crowned Serie A winners at the end of the 2010/11 campaign, but the current team pales in comparison to the one which contained Alessandro Nesta, Andriy Shevchenko and Cafu.
With owner Silvio Berlusconi no longer willing or able to invest as heavily as he has in the past, Milan have gone from perennial contenders both at home and abroad to a jarring role as also-rans.
The last three seasons have seen the once-feared San Siro giants finish eighth, 10th and seventh. A loss on Saturday would see them endure a third-consecutive season without European football.
Continually chasing a quick-fix, they have repeatedly failed to appoint a coach worthy of the club's stature, quickly firing former players Clarence Seedorf and Pippo Inzaghi when they failed to improve the fortunes of the side.
It seemed that would end last summer when Berlusconi finally began to spend in the transfer market, bringing in former Sevilla striker Carlos Bacca and prized young defender Alessio Romagnoli.
Having led Sampdoria in impressive fashion in 2014/15, Sinisa Mihajlovic was handed the coaching reigns and slowly began to restore some pride to the Rossoneri.
Under his tenure, teenage goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was given a place in the starting XI, but the Serbian boss would lose his job when results waned in early April.
It was somewhat ironic that Milan sacked him shortly after a loss to Juve, a game in which the side showed a gritty determination that had been so sorely lacking in recent years.
Mario Balotelli was superb in that encounter, testing Gigi Buffon on a number of occasions in a performance that was vastly better than most of his displays this term.
In a manner all too familiar to Liverpool fans, the striker has - much like the club he currently represents - been a listless figure unable to have the same impact he once had, scoring just one league goal and slowly becoming an irrelevant name in the wider landscape of Italian football.
After parting ways with Mihajlovic, Milan turned to another recently retired player, giving Christian Brocchi control of the team until the end of the season.
Four of Balotelli's eight Serie A starts this term have come since that change, but he was hauled off at half-time last weekend as Roma swept the Rossoneri aside and the coach pulled no punches when discussing his lack of effort with the media.
"I need players who can give me something in terms of attitude," Brocchi said shortly after the final whistle.
"Balotelli paid the consequences, but to be honest I could've removed four or five at half-time."
That apathy could not be in starker contrast to events in Turin where Max Allegri is enjoying incredible success.
Fired by Milan in January 2014 after finishing first, second and third in his three years in charge, the coach arrived at Juventus five months later and has continued to impress.
Last season, he joined Carlo Parola and Marcello Lippi as the only men to guide Juventus to a league and cup double, reaching the Champions League final for good measure.
His Coppa Italia triumph was the club's first in two decades, and he has now helped them add yet another league title this term.
Allegri enjoys a superb relationship with Paul Pogba, and if Balotelli encapsulates the dire situation at Milan, then the French midfielder is the perfect representation of Juventus in 2016.
Like the team around him, Pogba is young, vibrant and yet to reach his full potential, but has become a central figure after the departures of some key figures last summer, recording career highs in both goals (10) and assists (14) this term.
"I take more risks, but that's because there are fewer people to take them," he told RMC Sport last week. "Before there was [Andrea] Pirlo, [Arturo] Vidal, [Carlos] Tevez - I was surrounded and it took me a bit of time to take the game by the scruff of the neck and show more."
Yet that is exactly what he did, helped by an incredible debut campaign from new signing Paolo Dybala who weighed in with 23 goals and nine assists following his €32million (£25m at current rates) move from Palermo last summer.
The defence - with Buffon in superb form behind them - set a new Serie A record for clean sheets, and remains remarkably tough to beat for any of their domestic opponents.
Now the Stadio Olimpico awaits these two prestigious clubs, and the Coppa Italia final promises to be an occasion to remember once again.
