History of Coppa Italia

The Coppa Italia (Italian for Italy Cup, officially known as TIM Cup because of its sponsorship) is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals: 16 (Torino and Juventus follow with 13). The holder can wear a "tricolore" cockade, like the roundels that appear on military aircraft, and qualifies for a UEFA Europa League spot for the next season.
The tournament is known for its low attendances, mainly because most teams consider the tournament of low importance and do not field their best line-up, especially after the abolition of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. While some top clubs may average over 50,000 for league games, often these same clubs will attract crowds of around 1,000 for Coppa Italia matches. Many domestic cups elsewhere in Europe attract larger crowds. It is often in the final, where the UEFA Europa League spot is up for grabs, that larger crowds attend the games.
Coincidentally, in five of the last six years, the Coppa Italia final has been contested by the same two teams – Inter and Roma. This includes the 2009–10 Coppa Italia final. The match was held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 5 May 2010 and ended with Inter winning 1–0. It was Inter's 6th Coppa Italia title, and first since 2006. In this current final streak between the two teams, Inter now has the edge 3–2 having won the final of most recent edition by a single goal to nil. Both missed the final in 2008–09.

Format

The competition is a knockout tournament with pairings for each round made in advance; the draw for the whole competition is made before a ball is kicked. Each tie is played as a single leg, with the exception of the two-legged semi-finals. If a match is drawn, extra time is played. In the event of a draw after 120 minutes, a penalty shoot-out is contested. As well as being presented with the trophy, the winning team also qualifies for the UEFA Europa League (formerly named the UEFA Cup). If the winners have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League via Serie A, the UEFA Europa League place goes to the Coppa Italia runners-up. If they also have qualified for the UEFA Champions League, or are not entitled to play in UEFA competitions for any reason, the place goes to the next highest placed finisher in the league table.
There are a total of 8 rounds in the competition. The competition begins in August with the first round and is contested only by the lowest-ranked clubs – those outside the top two divisions. Clubs playing in Serie B join in in the second round and the twelve lowest-ranked teams in Serie A based on the previous league season's positions (unless they are to compete in European competition that year) begin the competition in the third round before August is over. The remaining eight Serie A teams join the competition in the fourth round in January, at which point sixteen teams remain. The round of 16, the quarter-finals and the first leg of the semi-finals are then played in quick succession after the Fourth Round and the second leg of the semi-final is played a couple of months later; in April before the May-contest final. The rather unusual two-leg final was eliminated two years ago and a single-match final is now played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.[1]


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