Napoli beat Juventus 6-5 on penalties to win the Italian Super Cup on Monday and deny Massimiliano Allegri a first trophy in charge of the Bianconeri. Rafael saved Simone Padoin's final penalty after Kalidou Koulibaly had converted to win the match for Napoli despite Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saving three spot kicks.
The match had ended 2-2 after extra time with Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain twice cancelling out strikes from Argentine compatriot Carlos Tevez. “Everyone should be happy, beating such a strong team like Juve is wonderful,” Napoli coach Rafa Benitez said. “I am happy for Rafael, I am happy for Higuain, I am happy for everyone who believed in us. ... It's my 12th trophy, my 10th cup, but what matters is that we won this for Naples and our supporters.”
It was end-to-end action at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, much to the delight of the sellout crowd of 14,000 fans, who loudly cheered every Juventus attack.
“It was a good game,” Allegri said. “We didn't manage to win on penalties despite three match points. I'm disappointed; we played well apart from at the start of the second half. Then we conceded right at the death.”
The traditional season opener between the Serie A champions and the Italian Cup winners had been rescheduled because of international commitments. The victory was a revenge for Napoli, which lost to Juventus in the same competition two years ago.