Spain-Italy is a match in the semi-finals of the Nations League Final Four and is scheduled for Wednesday at 20:45: TV, predictions.
It will be Spain v Italy, as in 2021. For the Azzurri, who have qualified for the Nations League Final Four for the second time in their history, it’s Roja again.
And, just as in the last edition, two of the continent’s most emblazoned selections will face each other in the semi-finals. Roberto Mancini’s national team had the worst of it back then: at the San Siro, the Red Furies won 2-1 thanks to a double by Ferran Torres; Pellegrini’s goal in the final, however, was irrelevant. For Italy, still intoxicated by their success at the European Championships, it was the beginning of a downward parabola, which ended with the failure to qualify for the World Cup for the second consecutive time. A tremendous disappointment from which our selection is trying, with great difficulty, to recover, trying to start a new cycle. After the World Cup disaster, one of the very few happy notes was the Nations League, with Italy that managed to come first in an apparently prohibitive group, ahead of two battleships such as England and Germany and the insidious Hungary. The two victories with the Magyars and above all the success against the English in Milan, on the penultimate day of the group stage, were decisive.
Roja and Azzurri in search of identity
Mancini, however, awaits more probing tests. And this one with Spain looks to be one. In the meantime, Italy have made their debut in the qualifiers for the next European Championships, where they will have the burden and honour of defending the title they won in the travelling edition two years ago. One defeat and one victory so far for the Azzurri.
De la Fuente
The reigning European champions lost to England in Naples (1-2) despite a good reaction in the second half, immediately compromising the race for first place (the first two in each group go through anyway). Victory, on the other hand, came without any problems against Malta, beaten 2-0 at home: once again in goal, as against the English, the oriundo Retegui, an Argentine striker with distant Italian origins whom Mancini decided to enlist to solve the now atavistic offensive problem. Spain, too, is at the dawn of a new cycle after the end of the Luis Enrique era, who gave up the role of technical commissioner following the World Cup failure: in Qatar, the Roja was eliminated in the round of 16 by the surprising Morocco. At the helm of the selection now is Luis de la Fuente, promoted from the Under-21 team. Bittersweet debut for the new coach in the qualification for the European Championships: Spain overwhelmed Norway in the debut match (3-0) but in the following match they lost 2-0 in Scotland, offering a really negative performance, perhaps the result of too many changes made by the selector compared to the previous match. In the Nations League, however, the Red Furies finished first in a group with Portugal, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
The latest line-up news
In the latest skim Mancini surprisingly left out Lazio’s Zaccagni, one of the best in Maurizio Sarri’s squad this year.
Instead, there are both Chiesa and Zaniolo, the two players on whom the coach seems to be betting with conviction in the next matches. Retegui should play as a starter, winning the ballot with Immobile, while the other duel concerns Pellegrini and Zaniolo, old teammates at Roma. In midfield, there will be space for the two veterans Verratti and Jorginho, while the veterans from the Champions League final, namely Acerbi, Bastoni, Dimarco and Barella, will be in the match. De la Fuente will reply with a 4-2-3-1, in which both Pedri and Balde, the two Barcelona players, will be absent. Morata, the only forward, will be supported by Gavi, Asensio and Dani Olmo. Possible starters Le Normand and Zubimendi, protagonists of an excellent season with Real Sociedad.
The prediction
Spain have often been unpalatable to the Azzurri in the last decade, only winning in the 90 minutes of regulation time at Euro 2016. This trend seems destined to continue in this Nations League too: Italy are now struggling to recover from the blow of not qualifying for the World Cup and are experiencing a real ‘year zero’, with Mancini intent for months now on experimenting with new solutions, between certainties and players to be launched. It is therefore not surprising that Spain are favourites in a match in which Italy are also likely to make themselves dangerous, scoring at least one goal.
Spain-Italy line-ups
- SPAGNA (4-2-3-1): Unai Simón; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Jordi Alba; Rodri, Zubimendi; Gavi, Asensio, Dani Olmo; Morata.
- ITALIA (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dimarco; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Retegui, Pellegrini.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
