Italy against Spain in a European Championship semi-final at Wembley Stadium promises to be classic, says Alan Feehely of Football Espana.
The semi-final clash kicks off at 8:00pm Nigeria time.
The Italians head to the home of English football with a 32-match unbeaten run behind them while Spain are the tournament’s highest-scoring team with 12 goals in five matches.
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For both head coaches – Italy’s Roberto Mancini and Spain’s Luis Enrique – they now have Euro glory in their sights.
After his team beat Belgium 2-1 in the quarter-finals Mancini believes the Azzurri will go to Wembley “safe in the knowledge that we are a team that can still offer a lot in this tournament”.
However, he added, “we know that we will be up against top-class opposition once again because Spain, like Belgium, are very tricky opponents”.
Enrique is “proud” of his squad for reaching the semi-finals, but like the other three nations he doesn’t want the Euro run to end now. “It’d be ridiculous to think that we, or any of the semi-finalists, would sign for just getting this far now – all of us want to get to the final and win,” he said.
It’s hard to decide between the two teams for this “iconic clash”, but no matter who the favourites are “it’s going to be an absolute barnstormer”, says 90min’s Max Cooper. The winners will play England or Denmark in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley on Sunday.
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The Azzurri have been dealt a huge blow with the injury to Leonardo Spinazzola, “one of the best players in the whole tournament”, says the BBC. The Roma left-back ruptured his Achilles tendon in the win over Belgium and is expected to be out for around six months.
Attacking midfielder Pablo Sarabia suffered a muscle strain in the quarter-final win against Switzerland. He was orced to come off at half-time and will be unlikely to feature at Wembley.
Sarabia’s possible absence “will come as a concern” for Spain boss Enrique, the Daily Mail reports. The Paris Saint-Germain star has scored two goals at Euro 2020 and also provided two assists. Should Sarabia miss out then Dani Olmo is likely to start against Italy.
Italy possible starting XI: Donnarumma; Florenzi, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne.
Spain possible starting XI: Unai Simón; Azpilicueta, García, Laporte, Alba; Koke, Busquets, Pedri; Moreno, Morata, Olmo.
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