Night to forget forItaly to Gelsenkirchen: the Spain dominates in the game at Veltins Arena and wins over an unfortunate one own goal in the recovery of Calafioriamong the best up to that point. Donnarumma keeps the blues afloat, the fury Nico Williams storm By Lorenzo.
Euro2024: Spain-Italy, the key to the match
The pressing incessant of Spain leaves you breathlessItaly, lacking the quality and courage necessary to get out of the defense against the pressure of the Iberians and lived almost 90 minutes of apnea, without ever shooting dangerously on goal. But the Azzurri also lose the individual duels: Nico Williams he makes the difference thanks to his one-on-one ability.
Italy, what worked
Despite the difficulties, in the first half Italy showed a desire to fight and confidence in Spalletti’s instructions. In the second half the determination also disappeared, only in the final injury time did Italy try to straighten out the match.
Italy, what didn’t work
The ball exit requested by Spalletti remains among the coach’s desires: Spain’s pressure is constant, but not always perfect, however the Azzurri lack low construction and end up being crushed. The blame is not only on the defenders: too many errors in support of Stretcher And Frattesi, Scamacca it is not very clean in the banks on the ground. And when Italy goes beyond the Iberian front line – often thanks to Calafiori -, then there is a flaw in the finishing. In the second half, fatigue accentuated the difficulties and after taking the lead, Spain continued to control the game.
Relive the emotions of Spain-Italy
Italy’s report cards
- Donnarumma 7.5: best of the match for Italy, in the second half he performed a miracle on Pedri after just 90” which was reminiscent of Buffon on Zidan in the Berlin final and two other decisive saves on Morata and Fabian in the space of a minute. Innocent of the Spanish lead, in the final he denied the 2-0 to Baena and Perez.
- By Lorenzo 5: Chiesa and Frattesi leave him alone in the one-on-one with the fury Nico Williams, who has another pace and 10 years younger.
- Sticks 5.5: his match starts very badly, first Nico Williams runs away from him, then he loses an aerial duel with Morata which almost leads to Nico’s goal. He settles down and grows, but still gives the feeling of being lost.
- Calafiori 6: holds on to Spain’s attacks and is the only one with clear ideas in construction. Clumsy and unlucky during the own goal, but even after the 1-0 he retained a certain clarity.
- Dimarco 5: in trouble on Yamal – and we can understand this, considering his characteristics – but in the first half he has at least 3 opportunities to make a splash with his excellent left foot and instead he doesn’t make an impact.
- Stretcher 5.5: he runs a lot, he fights and takes a lot of beatings, but he should give quality when coming out and instead he loses himself in the face of the pressing of the Red Furies. Pure breakwater recovery: too little.
- Jorginho 5: he struggles to keep Pedri’s movements and with the ball at his feet he is unable to give order to the blue construction (from the 1st minute Cambiaso 5: he comes on to lend a hand to Di Lorenzo, but after a while the opponent scores 1-0 in his area. Failed mission).
- Church 4.5: the few times he is served he persists in duels with Cucurella which almost always sees him emerge defeated. In the second half he goes left but against Carvajal the music doesn’t change (from the 19th minute Zaccagni 5.5: tries to shake up his classmates, who don’t have the energy to follow him).
- Frattesi 4.5: the Spanish re-aggression throws him completely out of gear. He misses passes in series or persists in percussions that see him crash into Rodri or De La Fuente’s central defenders (from the 1st Cristante 5.5: he takes 19” to get the yellow card for a stomp on Rodri, he creates two good opportunities in finishing but the sensitivity of the right foot is not his strong point).
- Pilgrims 5.5: among the attacking midfielders he is the only one who manages, on rare occasions, to position himself behind Rodri and Pedri and disturb the Spanish defensive line. However, he suffers from the high pace of the race. He disappears when Spalletti moves him back a few meters in the second half (from the 36th minute Raspadori SV).
- Scamacca 4: with the Iberian midfielders rising very high to press, his task would be to find the position behind them and facilitate the ball exit, but he rarely finds the right position and when he does he misses the touch for his teammate (from the 19th minute Network 5: chases the long balls thrown by his teammates).
Top and flop from Spain
- N. Williams 8: a perfect counterpart to Yamal’s elegance, the 21-year-old from Athletic Bilbao is as powerful as his teammate, electric in his accelerations and changes of pace. He ate a header in the 10th minute, but created repeated opportunities with his dribbling ability, including the one that broke the deadlock. And the crossbar hit in the second half is still shaking.
- Fabian Ruiz 6.5: in Naples someone criticized him for a certain laziness in his step, a trifle for the Andalusian, a true total midfielder. He attacks, sews, finishes, pulls.
- Pedro 6: the little king of a utopian football without goals. Beautiful, beautiful, he does everything wonderfully, but he devours two sensational goals.
Referee Vincic’s report card
Vincic’s first half is the manifestation of the illogicality of the indications of the UEFA refereeing leaders: there would be at least three yellows for very harsh or late entries (Pedri on Pellegri, Le Normand on Barella, Di Lorenzo on Nico) and instead the only cards are for the protests of Donnarumma (also captain) and Rodri. In the second half, obviously, the meter changes. Rating 5.5.
Euro2024: the complete rankings
