«Not able to do more»

«We missed the rhythm, the freshness, which always makes the difference. Tonight I changed some players but at the moment we are not able to do more than that.” Thus Luciano Spalletti spoke to Rai after the elimination from Euro 24. «That goal at the start of the second half cut our legs off, we were not very incisive, the pace made the difference, their was higher in the first half and even individuality there was a different pace between couples. Many were not continuous in pressing, in nibbling away at centimetres.”

«In my opinion it’s difficult to talk about modules when you go below level like this. When you play with three, you are still forced to recompose the line in the defensive phase. If we play like this, even with the 3-5-2 we would have conceded a lot. This elimination also gives us some indications. There are things that we absolutely need to change, we need more speed, more leg. Now we are unable to do more than that. From a gaming point of view, much more can be done, but when you find a team that dribbles well we have to do it too. The lack of speed exists because we don’t have many players with this quality of running, among those we had identified. Nowadays everyone makes these re-aggressions, if you can’t clear the ball in the first two or three passes it becomes tough. I believe there is the possibility of building something important but it takes a little more time. The responsibility always lies with the coach, because I made the choices. Everyone is responsible for the teams he coaches. I don’t know if this is the most we can express, I haven’t had a lot of time to make acquaintances. I have to do some defense, otherwise it becomes tough. A few more games could have helped».

«It hurts, today we disappointed and Switzerland deserved it. We struggled throughout the match, especially in the first half, we lost too many balls and left space for them. A very hard match to digest, you have to accept it but it hurts. Everything was missing today, from courage to quality. They always had the ball in the game, in the second half we should have started well and instead we conceded a goal straight away. We have disappointed and we must accept it».

The race of Italy, the defending champion, to the European Championships in Germany 2024 stops in the round of 16. At the Olympiastadion in Berlin, the scene of the 2006 World Cup triumph, the Azzurri lose 2-0 against Switzerland. The match is decided by goals from Freuler in the 37th minute of the first half and Vargas in the 1st minute of the second half. The Swiss await the winner between England and Slovakia in the quarterfinals.

Cambiaso and Pellegrini come in to replace Darmian and Cristante.

In the 74th minute, Zaccagni headed the ball to Scamacca who hit the post with his right foot, just a few steps away from Sommer.

Italy’s first real shot on goal in the 73rd minute with Mateo Retegui just tickling Sommer.

Spalletti focuses on the double attacker, inside Retegui who takes Barella’s place.

A seemingly harmless cross from Fagioli finds a daring deflection from Switzerland defender Schar, the ball hits the post with Sommer beaten.

Not even a minute into the second half and Switzerland has already doubled their lead. Vargas takes the ball on the edge of the area and places it at the top corner, where not even Donnarumma can reach.

Spalletti brings on Zaccagni who comes in to replace El Shaarawy.

Bad first half for the Azzurri who appeared to be in clear difficulty against Switzerland. Little pace, a lot of effort in the construction phase for Spalletti’s men who went behind in the 37th minute with Freuler’s goal.

Free kick from Rieder who risks doubling the lead, Donnarumma saves it on the post and makes another great save.

The Roma winger was also cautioned after arriving late on Aebischer.

Switzerland takes the lead with Bologna midfielder Freuler: insertion without the ball and left-footed shot that mocks Donnarumma. No Italy midfielder follows his introduction.

Warning for Barella, who is clearly in physical difficulty.

Ricardo Rodriguez tries from distance with his left foot, the shot goes over the crossbar.

Initiative from Chiesa who skips a couple of opponents and tries a free kick with his right foot, his shot is blocked by the Swiss defence.

Switzerland comes close to taking the lead: Embolo starts in a regular position and finishes from close range, Donnarumma decisive who makes another great save.

Brilliant ball from Barella on a free kick to catch Di Lorenzo who misses the ball. However, the offside flag goes up.

Barella remains on the ground in the 8th minute after suffering a blow in the middle of the field. Pain in his left thigh for the Inter midfielder who however gets up despite the pain.

“It’s always the same story, we feel the pressure a bit. We live it. When this group came out there was a real risk of being able to go out, both Spain and Croatia were two uncomfortable customers. Now there are no calculations to do, everything is visible”. This is what the Italian coach Luciano Spalletti said to Sky shortly before Italy-Switzerland, the eighth finals of Euro 2024 in Berlin: “It’s thanks to these guys, they must feel our trust, because they are on the bus that brought us here. Barella will be the one in the middle, he will be the director. With his youth he has the qualities to become a big player in that role there”

SWISS (3-4-3): Summer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Aebischer, Freuler, Xhaka, Rieder; Vargas, Embolo, Ndoye. Ct Sure.

ITALIA (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Bastoni, Darmian; Barella, Fagioli, Cristante; Church, Scamacca, El Shaarawy. Coach Spalletti.

Switzerland-Italy will be broadcast live on Rai1 and on the Sky Sport Uno and Sky Sport Calcio channels. It will also be available for streaming on the RaiPlay app, on Sky Go and on NOW. On Sky, the commentary will be entrusted to Fabio Caressa, with technical commentary by Giuseppe Bergomi. On Rai, instead, Alberto Rimedio and Antonio Di Gennaro will narrate the match.

The round of 16 between Switzerland and Italy will take place today at 6 pm at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.