Italy avenged their 4-0 humiliation in the Euro 2012 final as goals from Giorgio Chiellini and Graziano Pelle sealed a famous 2-0 victory over defending champions Spain at the Stade de France. Italy went in front after 33 minutes when Eder’s free-kick was saved by David de Gea, but fell in the path of Chiellini, who had the easy task to tap the ball in.
An underwhelming Spain fought hard in the closing moments, but their plans were repeatedly foiled by a solid Italian back three. They were ultimately the recipients of a counter-attack in injury time, as Matteo Darmian’s deflected cross was gratefully met by Pelle to seal the deal for Antonio Conte’s side.
The result sends Italy into the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, where they face world champions Germany.
Here are the five talking points from the encounter in Saint-Denis:-
1) David de Gea keeps Spain in it
If Spain had anyone to thank for keeping the score down, it was none other than their star goalkeeper David de Gea. He made a number of magnificent saves, including two jaw-dropping ones to deny Pelle and Emmanuelle Giaccherini.
He might have done better with Eder’s free-kick which culminated in the goal, but he did well enough to get his body behind it. It was yet another outstanding display by the Manchester United custodian – one which confirms his status as one of the world’s top keepers.
2) Spain looked fatigued and short of ideas
What was shocking to see was the manner in which Spain approached the game. They were well aware that they would be starved of goal-scoring opportunities through the middle owing to their three in form centre-halves and two a sitting midfielder in Danielle de Rossi. However, they played right into Italy’s 3-5-2 strength, attempting to thread their way through the heart of the defence to no avail.
The fact that the same starting XI was named by Vicente del Bosque for the fourth straight game reflected their astonishing drop in tempo for large periods during the game. The outgoing manager’s reluctance to change his team’s shape after half-time left many nonplussed. To make matters worse, they were repeatedly getting caught on the counter-attack by Emmanuelle Giacccherini and the energetic Eder.
If anyone, it was just Andres Iniesta who looked the most likely to create an opening and force a comeback. His fierce shot in the 76th minute was kept out by Gianluigi Buffon.
Though they rallied to find that equaliser, the Italian defence was up to the task and effectively shut the Spanish attack out. It appeared to be a rather fatigued Spanish outfit and a performance well short of what was expected from defending champions.
3) Italy’s experience and telepathy at the back helped them defend the lead
It helps when your three centre-backs have the experience of 60 (Barzagli), 61 (Bonucci) and 87 (Chiellini) caps respectively. It further helps when all three play for the same club (Juventus). The trio needed all that experience to defend that lead and help their nation advance to the quarter-finals against Germany.
They closed out all the gaps to ensure that no Spaniard was able to weave their magic through the middle. As the game progressed and Spain began creating more opportunities through their full-backs, the trio’s synchronised movements across the goal made sure that substitute Aritz Aduriz didn’t have the luxury of getting his head to a cross cleanly. To back them up, they were backed up by some good goalkeeping by the ever-present Gigi Buffon – saving well from Iniesta and Gerard Pique at the death.
In short, it was a defensive masterclass from Antonio Conte’s side.
4) De Sciglio excels at left wing back
Though Italy’s centre-halves will receive the plaudits for this result, one cannot rule out the contributions made by the two wingbacks, Mattia de Sciglio in particular. Preferably a right wingback, he had the responsibility to do a job on the other side so that Alessandro Florenzi could be accommodated.
However, he was up to the task and put in an excellent performance down the flanks. He provided the width for Italy going forward, feeding Giaccherini so that he could be sent on his bike. The long switch pass he made to Matteo Darmian in injury time (in the build-up to the second goal) was one of several key passes throughout the game.
The desire he showed to track back and assist his central defenders was commendable too. By keeping up with Juanfran, he ensured that the Atletico Madrid fullback was unable to put quality crosses into the penalty area. Being a two-footed player, he was also effective in dealing with Spanish crosses coming from either side.
His work-ethic for 90 minutes never waned and Conte will rely on his wingback to recover in time and come out all guns blazing once again when his side face Germany in the last eight.
5) Antonio Conte, the tactical mastermind
Italian manager Antonio Conte deserves all the plaudits for setting Italy up in a way that was bound to keep Spain quiet. A rock-solid three-man defence, a sitting midfielder, two full-backs providing width and a striking duo upfront indeed turned out to be the perfect foil for a Spanish side who rely on their attacking midfielders to work their way through the hearts of defences.
They did not provide the Spaniards any breathing pace whatsoever and always had someone available to intercept a potential killer-pass from Iniesta or David Silva. When del Bosque’s side showed the urgency in the last 20 minutes, the experience of their defensive quintet (Buffon, Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini and de Rossi) made their experience do the talking and absorbed all the pressure quite superbly.
The departing manager will definitely be a huge miss from the Italian dugout when he joins Chelsea in the summer. Blues fans will never be more excited at the prospect of Conte’s arrival to turn their fortunes around based on Italy’s perfect set-up which he masterminded.
