Prior to the cup final, Napoli were in third place in Serie A and therefore in the last position to qualify for the Champions League, eight points ahead of Fiorentina with nine points left to play for. Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella said before the game that his priority was to finish fourth and win the Coppa Italia. His Napoli counterpart, Rafael Benítez, warned his players not to expect to win solely based on their league position. Players and staff of both clubs were invited to Vatican City the day before the final, where they listened to a speech by Pope Francis. Managers Montella and Benítez presented souvenirs of their clubs to the Pope. Fiorentina, of Serie A, entered the tournament in the Last 16 at home to Chievo, also of their league. They won 2–0 with first-half goals from Joaquín and Ante Rebić, despite the dismissal of Massimo Ambrosini. In the quarter-final on 23 January, again at home, they beat Serie B Siena 2–1 with Josip Iličić opening the scoring and Marvin Compper scoring the winner. Fiorentina's semi-final against Udinese began with a 2–1 away defeat on 4 February, but the second leg on 12 February was a 2–0 home victory with goals from Manuel Pasqual and Cuadrado. Napoli, also of Serie A, entered in the Last 16 on 15 January with a 3–1 home win over Atalanta, in which Callejón scored twice and Lorenzo Insigne the other goal. Their quarter-final on 29 January was a 1–0 victory at home over cup holders Lazio, with a late goal from Gonzalo Higuaín. Like Fiorentina, Napoli began their semi-final with an away defeat (3–2 against Roma), but secured their place in the final with a 3–0 victory at home on 12 February, with goals from Callejón, Higuaín and Jorginho. Fiorentina were without record signing Mario Gómez, the German striker having suffered with injury all season. Their top scorer of the season, Giuseppe Rossi, had been injured since January but was included as a substitute. Montella opined that Rossi would be ready to represent Italy at the World Cup in June. Goalkeeper Neto and midfielder Borja Valero had been doubts due to recent finger and knee injuries respectively, but made the starting line-up.