June 20 – Italy and Spain renew their rivalry with a ticket to the last 16 of Euro 2024 at stake in their Group B clash.
The heavyweight prize fight will allow one side to seize the initiative in the group of death and in control of their destiny as different routes to the final begin to take shape.
Italy vs Spain is the biggest game in the group stage and reignites a longstanding competition between the two countries.
The Spanish defeated Italy in the semi-finals of the past two Nations Leagues, but the Azzurri had the biggest win when they eliminated La Roja from Euro 2020 in a tight and tense semi-final. That Wembley result has further fueled the rivalry between the two sides.
Italy manager Luciano Spalletti however denied the familiarity between the two sides played a role.
“This is not a ‘derby’ for me. When you play a Euro, all games are finals, all games are unique, all games are something to remember. We want to play the same kind of football we played against Albania and measure ourselves against one of the strongest teams in Europe. I’m sure that if we leave the ball to them, it will end badly for us. So we will have to take the initiative and see if we manage to do so against such great opponents,” said Spalletti.
The Italians opened their account with a 2-1 victory after falling behind in the opening stages, but Jorginho and Nicolo Barella orchestrated play to reverse their side’s fortunes.
Spain impressed by dismantling Croatia 3-0 in their opening game, but the manner of their victory was more instructive than the result. Spain for once did not enjoy the majority of possession as they seek to move away from Tiki Taka under manager Luis de la Fuente.
“We will have to understand the moments of the game, when we can let them have the initiative and when we cannot,” said Spalletti.
“We always want to put pressure on our opponents because otherwise Spain never lose possession if you don’t press them hard. When you manage to attack them, Rodri becomes their fifth defender. Jorginho is different in this sense, he does not have the same physical strength to do the same job. We have to consider all these things to have a good performance.”
“They’ve got everything, absolutely everything. They always do things in the same way, and we need to more reactive. I’m curious to see what happens when they press with 11 men, how we respond to that,” continued Spalletti.
“Spain always play the same way – that’s how they became so recognisable. Over time, they’ve always retained the same philosophy; they asked the same thing of different players and they were able to carry out that task. They have a football philosophy, more than Italy, but our idea is always to try and play football.”
At Euro 2012, Italy and Spain met twice. In the group stages, the pair played out a draw and Spain went on to top the group with seven points. En route to the final, the Spanish eliminated France and Portugal before demolishing the Italians 4-0 in the showpiece match in Kyiv to win back-to-back European crowns.
Twelve years on, Spalletti and his side are hoping for a different outcome.
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