Starting well in a short tournament like the European Championship was fundamental and Luciano Spalletti’s Italywho in Germany defends the title won in 2021 by Roberto Mancini’s national team, has accomplished the mission coming from behind to beat Albania 2-1 on the first day of Group B and immediately taking the lead with Spain at 3 points.
Euro 2024: results, scores and calendar
Euro 2024, Italy already close to the round of 16
A very heavy result, which after just 90′ allows Italy to win the pass to the round of 16 is already close to which they qualify the first two plus the four best third-placed teams from the six qualifying groups. And if in the last two editions of the European Championships the ‘recoveries’ all had 3 or 4 points, here for the Azzurri the minimum goal really seems one step away. And even just a draw with the Spain (ahead of the Azzurri in goal difference thanks to the 3-0 over Croatia) could bring him even closer.
Euro 2024: the group standings
First place is up for grabs against Spain
However, Spalletti is not a coach who likes to make calculations and the reigning champions cannot avoid hunting for the first place, which would then guarantee to ‘draw’ a more accessible opponent on paper in the round of 16. And a success in the next match against Spain (Thursday 20 June) could already guarantee the arithmetic certainty of primacy if Croatia (the Azzurri’s last opponent in the group) does not beat Albania. Premature speeches, even if the performance showed off from Italy on debut makes the Azzurri fans dream…
