Italy and Spain will do battle inside Paris’ Stade de France later tonight, in what will be a rematch of the Euro 2012 final.
The match represents the third consecutive European championships where the two sides have met in the knockout phase of the tournament, with the Spanish winning the previous two clashes.
Prior to Euro 2008, La Furia Roja had never beaten Italy at a major tournament, always regarding the Azzurri as their bogey side. However, now, Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini admits that the shoe is on the other foot and it is his side that struggle to overcome Spain.
“The beginning of their golden period coincided with their win over us in 2008,” said Chiellini.
“It was only in Kiev [the 4-0 defeat in the Euro 2012 final] that we weren’t able to give them a game, we hadn’t been able to recover from our game against Germany.”
Key Battle – Andres Iniesta vs Daniele De Rossi
Both Iniesta and De Rossi were arguably the best players for their respective nations at the Euro 2012 tournament. Four years later, both are now considered veterans of the team at 32-years of age. For De Rossi, he is forced to become the midfield leader in a team with injuries to key central figures Claudio Marchisio and Marco Verratti. Italy will need all of his experience and industry as Antonio Conte’s men will look to contain La Roja and allow them to enjoy majority of possession. The Azzurri will no doubt be watchful ofAndres Iniesta. The Barcelona man was at the top of his game during Spain’s winning run in 2012, and still remains his side’s most valuable midfielder.
Team News
Sergio Ramos heads into this clash one yellow card away from missing a potential quarter-final matchup. Spain have named the same lineup in all three matches so far, meanwhile the Italians have used 22 players, the most of any side at the tournament. With Antonio Candreva ruled out due to a thigh injury, Alessandro Florenzi is expected to take up a role on the right hand side of midfield, with 10 of the XI that started the first match against Belgium predicted to lineup against Spain in Antonio Conte’s preferred 3-5-2 formation.
Head-to-head
Italy’s last competitive win against Spain came in 1994 when now Italy coach, Antonio Conte was lining up for the Azzurri in a 2-1 win on the day. Since, Spain have lost just one of 11 clashes between the sides, winning four and drawing six. Italy vs Spain remains the most played fixture at the Euro championships (six matches).
Prediction
Antonio Conte mentioned during the week that his side “weren’t ready to go home” and they will no doubt prove a tough test for Spain, who have yet to look their brilliant best at the tournament. The result will come down to Italy’s ability to defend against La Furia Roja ‘s ability to find an opening. With Italy lacking it’s two best midfielders and no real world class threat, they are forced to play with a more defensive approach and win games based off their ability to hold out and attack and make the most of their limited chances going forward.
Spain, meanwhile, will need to dictate the tempo and use all of their crafty skills to force a goal against three world class defenders with so much chemistry and the might of Gianluigi Buffon. Their main goal threat has come from Alvaro Morata so far at the tournament, a player this Italy defence knows very well. Expect an extremely motivated and well set up Italian side to overcome Spain – who do not quite provide the same danger as they did four years ago.
Italy 1 Spain 0
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