Close your eyes and you seem to hear the choirs of Bolognainstead of the Swiss anthem. Aebisher, Freuler and Ndoye maybe in retreat they will also eat tortellini and make some connections with the former rossoblù Thiago Motta, the founding father of the technical wealth of Bologna. And on the pitch, thanks to the great work of the coach Yakinthe same quality is reflected. Against Italy they will play a sort of derby. The reason? There are six footballers currently playing in Serie A. They certainly won’t have any problems communicating.
How does Switzerland play? Sommer and the defensive experience
The certainty of Switzerland is the form: 3-4-2-1 with great freedom to roam given to the attackers. But let’s start from the rear first. In the door there is the bulwark Summer that already in the past he gave Italy a bad time by saving Jorginho’s penalty in the qualifying rounds for the World Cup in Qatar, an edition that the Azzurri watched from the sofa at home. The three-man defense is synonymous with great experience, with Schar, Akanji and Rodriguez who together with the goalkeeper add up to 353 appearances for the national team.
Understanding and also quality with the player Manchester City to guide the maneuver. The movements of Torino’s arm are also important, very wide when Aebischer closes in on midfield. The weak point? The high balls, as in the goals of Varga and Fullkrug. Two out of three goals conceded in Group A were the result of a wrong reading in the air, while with Scotland McTominay’s goal came from a counterattack. Spalletti takes note and Scamacca too.
Switzerland, orderly and dynamic midfield
The tasks that are given to midfielders are different to those they carry out in their club, but Freuler and Xhaka make up a complete midfieldIn Bologna and Bayer Leverkusen they emerge more for possession, while cIn Switzerland they develop a more direct and vertical game. The “Italian” midfielder also scored two assists and plays more of a finisher role, leaving his teammate the interdiction duties (as on the occasion of the ball stolen from Musiala, which led to the goal) and initial setting duties. There will be no Widmer against Italy (suspended), winger who also played in Serie A with Udinese.
He is ready in his place Stergiouwhich for now has not convinced much. So Italy could insist on that side. On the opposite side Yakin has carved out an important role Aebischerwho with his pendulum movements he plays a sort of false winger, often leaving the wing to Rodriguez and the attackers, to create numerical superiority in midfield. And he is succeeding with excellent results. An example? The debut against Hungary: goals, assists and a lot of presence.
Freuler’s charge
One of the sons of Bologna’s great season introduced the match between Italy and Switzerland, Freuler: “They came out of a tough group to equalize in the last minute, something that says everything about the strength and character of this team. To pass like this you have to believe it. Italy remains favorites and we’re fine with that, but we’re not afraid. We know that it is strong, that it has great players who play in clubs that are at the top, that it never gives up and never dies, that it has character and wants to play football, which is why I expect a difficult and beautiful match. But I repeat, we are not afraid. The defeat at the European Championship 3 years ago? Painful, but then we went to the World Cup and they didn’t. After that 3-0 we changed coach and many things changed with him.”
Then he continued: “I have been in Italy for 7-8 years and I am fine, as is my family, the country has entered our hearts but these are the round of 16 of a European Championship, there is no room for this love”. Then on Calafiori absent due to disqualification: “I didn’t talk to him, I saw that he commented on one of my posts on Instagram yesterday, but nothing else. I’m sorry she can’t play, I wanted to address it. Much Bologna in this Switzerland? Yes, but this is the national team, it’s not Bologna facing Italy.”. And then lots of praise for Ndoye: “His performance is not a surprise because he has great qualities. It was known that he was phenomenal in one-on-one situations, let’s say that here the difference was made by the goal: the fact that he started to score means that he was unblocked in front of goal, it was a part that perhaps psychologically he was missing, if he starts if you do it regularly you can have a great career.”
The mobile and referenceless attack
3-4 and you do it, Switzerland’s deployment can also be summed up like this. In attack Yakin leaves his forwards great freedom of movement, without playing with a real role bomber. Ndoye is the unpredictability card that the coach has at his disposal: dribbling, running and finally even scoring. With the race underway Embolus he always split the game in two with his speed and killer instinct, even if with the physical problems overcome he should play from the first minute.
Shaqiri’s technique is on another level compared to his teammates, but Yakin often protects it and exploits it only at the most opportune moments. The imaginative Vargas, the flexible Rieder and also Duah are other weapons that can be exploited based on the progress of the match. Many solutions to try to hurt Italy. Little space instead for Okafor of Milan, who at the moment is limiting himself to cheering for his teammates. The dangers are around the corner, Spalletti and the Azzurri have been warned and will have to take to the field with a different attitude from the last two matches to continue dreaming.
THE PROBABLE FORMATION OF SWITZERLAND
SWITZERLAND (3-4-2-1): Summer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Stergiou, Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer; Shaqiri, Vargas; Embolus.
