In one of the most absorbing games of Euro 2016, Italy prevailed over Spain in what was an intense tactical battle that saw Antonio Conte's side knock out the holders. Italy had won just once against Spain in their last 11 meetings having lost 4-0 in the final in 2012, but there were no suggestions of an inferiority complex with the Italians dominating the first half before seeing out the second with relative comfort.
The former Juventus manager went with his favoured 3-5-2 with Alessandro Florenzi starting instead of the injured Antonio Candreva. Having rested players in the final group game loss to the Republic of Ireland, he was able to bring back his key men fresh for this blockbuster of a game.
Vicente Del Bosque, on the other hand, named the same line-up for the fourth game running and having looked slightly jaded in the second half against Croatia, the fitness levels his players was always going to play a big part.
Conte had flared up at suggestions that his side were going to sit deep and look to counter. “All I keep hearing is defend, defend, defend. Pay attention to Nolito. Pay attention to Morata. Pay attention to Iniesta,” he said. “But they will have to pay attention to us.” As it turned out, Spain should have heeded his advice.
Before the game, Xavi had pointed out that Spain struggled to press high when facing teams who play three at the back. It was apparent against Italy in the group stage of Euro 2012, and in the last World Cup against Netherlands and Chile.
Italy’s 3-5-2 turns into a flexible 3-4-3 while going forward with the two wingbacks pushing up and morphs into a 3-5-2/4-4-2 without the ball with the ball near wingback getting in line with central defenders and the wide midfielder, either Giaccherini or Parolo, taking a position in line with that player accordingly.
Spain unable to Build from the Back against Italy’s High Press
Conte must have studied how Croatia disrupted Spain playing out from the back and that is exactly what he did, with far more dangerous consequences. The two strikers pushed up along with Giaccherini, marking Pique and Ramos along with Busquets which forced De Gea to kick long. His punts forward to Morata were gobbled up easily as he stood no chance against the three central defenders. The former Juventus striker ended up completing fewer passes (6) than any other player in the first half.
The midfield was packed as well with De Rossi in the left halfspace shadowing Fabregas while Parolo took up Iniesta. On instances when they didn’t press the central defenders, Giaccherini and Eder dropped into midfield overloading the centre of the pitch 4v3 leaving Pelle up top on Busquets and not allowing Spain to play through the centre.
De Gea hit 12 of his 14 passes long in the first half although there were occasions when he could have played a square pass to one of his fullbacks. Iniesta was seen on one such instance gesturing towards his keeper to play the ball out wide. The Manchester United man, however, seemed reluctant to build through them rather than the centre-backs.When they did get the ball via midfield, the wingbacks would spring into a pressing trap along with the ball near midfielder using the touchline as the extra defender and that created transitions during which the Azzurri thrived.
Spain usually thrive in the middle with their playmakers or in spaces behind the wide players with the fullbacks providing width. They were unable to do either against Italy as the midfield was packed and Italy’s shifting from side to side was well drilled and organised. Morata was closely marked and so were Silva and Nolito who were not being able to get into the game by trying to cut inside instead of stretching play which would have been more effective.
Italy Build From the Back due to Ineffective Spanish pressing
Spain meanwhile were also trying to pres high up as usual but with three centre-backs and the wingbacks adding numbers in the first phase of possession, the Italians found it relatively comfortable to progress into midfield.
When Spain did push numbers upfield, Italy would play quick vertical passes into midfield before advancing to the strikers who would have dropped deep to add presence in midfield. Nolito who is relatively new to the Spanish system found it difficult to press as a unit.
The midfielders behind him were also kept guessing as Parolo and Giaccherini dropped deep and wide to help in the construction of play if the Spanish fullbacks marked their opposite wingbacks and if Iniesta or Fabregas tried to track them, space opened in the middle for De Rossi.
Fabregas is infamous for being poor positionally and there was a lot of space behind him if Italy could pass it around the Chelsea midfielder. The pressing as a whole suffered because Busquets usually pushes up to help his teammates but he wasn’t able to do that here prohibited by Pelle.
Occupying positions in different lines in their midfield was important for Italy to progress the ball along with super quick exchanges. An important feature of their build-up was De Rossi’s passing who would playing first time balls around the corner out wide or would get into positions to get similar passes from the wingbacks along with Parolo.
On a few occasions in the first half, Conte was seen shouting at his defensive midfielder to release the ball quickly into the feet of the players ahead of him when the manager felt he was taking too long. One of the moments of the half involved the Roma man nutmegging Iniesta. No one does that.
The opening ten minutes or so saw Italy getting a lot of numbers forward as Spain struggled to deal with their passing and movement as the wingbacks would also advance swamping the Spanish defence and leading to many dangerous situations. Pelle had a headed attempt in the 2nd minute though his header was weak before Eder had an attempt blocked.
Then from a freekick, De Gea pulled off a brilliant save to deny the Southampton striker and soon afterwards he was thwarting Giaccherini’s overhead kick although the former Sunderland man was penalized for dangerous play.
Pelle and Eder Neutralise Busquets while Dropping Deep to Link Play
The two strikers were finding space quite regularly between the lines when they dropped deep and either the ball playing centre-backs or De Rossi were finding them to spread play to the wingbacks.
Busquets who is usually the metronome of his side had only 18 touches by halftime, which was the 2nd fewest for his side and had the 16th-most passes of all the players. When Busquets would shift wide on the right to find space with Fabregas ahead and Iniesta dropping back in the left half-space, he was well marked by Giaccherini.
De Rossi was finding the forwards wide and in between the lines, especially Pelle, with ease due to the lack of compactness behind the Spanish midfield who would be enticed to press when Italy built from the back.
Also, Ramos and Pique couldn’t follow Pelle because the striker had the two wingbacks along with Eder who were willing runners behind him aided by Giaccherini who would seemingly take up two different positions at once; such was his presence on the pitch. Even when Spain dropped deeper, Bonucci or Barzagli were able to find Pelle with direct balls onto his chest or head and the theme of Italy’s attacks remained the same.
The opening goal which came from a freekick was a result of Pelle being fouled by Ramos while trying to receive De Rossi’s pass in between the lines. Eder’s resulting attempt was pushed right in front of goal and Chiellini was on hand to apply the finish. It was a well-deserved lead for Italy having come close on a number of occasions prior to the goal.
After the goal Busquets started pushing De Rossi high up, limiting his influence and he was able to have an impact in prohibiting Italy’s build-up somewhat. Just towards the end of the half, De Sciglio’s first time ball around the corner found Pelle who had dropped deep and he was able to advance it to Parolo on the right halfspace behind the midfielders although the move eventually led to Florenzi crossing straight to De Gea.
Italian Wingbacks Put in a Tremendous Shift
Florenzi and De Sciglio had a tremendous first half along with the rest of the team. They were like Swiss knives having a variety of options while going forward and when defending. They would stretch the play during build-up acting as wide outlets whilst squeezing it without the ball, adding numbers in defensive midfield by tucking in and also acting as regular full backs on the overlap and wide midfielders when the shape was skewed the other way.
Their first time passing infield was an important feature in the build-up phase upon which they would storm forward and overload the Spanish defence. Alba especially was caught out on a number of occasions with Florenzi getting in behind. They were positionally brilliant at every switch to the far post and were involved in most of the attacks.
The duo’s influence became apparent in the opening couple of minutes when a quick break led to Florenzi crossing for Pelle. Parolo’s chance in the 25th minute was provided by De Sciglio crossing from the left after Pelle had been found in between the lines by Barzagli and linked up with Giaccherini.
Another dangerous instance for Spain was when Ramos sliced a cutback across goal from the Italian number 2 who was released by Eder after Pelle’s chest down in front of the defence. Italy were well coached in carrying out these moves with precision and intensity.
Half-Time
By half-time, Spain had been left shell-shocked. Not only had Italy countered well, they had also matched the Spaniards in passing and possession. The stats read 48% possession compared to 52% for the Iberians. They had conceded 7 shots, of which 4 were on target and attempted just 2, with a weak Iniesta effort their only shot on goal. Spain had had just the single pass inside Italy’s area.
Spain hadn’t attempted this few shots in a first half at the Euros since the 1-1 draw against Greece in 2004. Unlike the defeats against Netherlands and Chile in the World Cup, the opposition here were not solely relying on hitting them on the counter but outplaying them on all fronts. They had been overawed by Conte’s tactics and its execution by his troops.
Second Half
Changes were imminent for Spain as Nolito was hauled off for Aritz Aduriz who needed another presence upfront but also because Nolito had had a poor game. The Athletic Bilbao striker went up front with Morata moving to the left but the half started in almost identical fashion and within seconds Italy had swarmed forward in numbers from the right wing but Pique managed to block Florenzi’s drilled cross and even the corner was a dangerous one, cleared by Ramos.
But Spain started exerting pressure after that and from their own corner played short, Morata had a glorious chance but in the process of pushing his marker, he could only get a weak connection on his header straight to Buffon. Fabregas found Iniesta and then Silva on the edge of the box though both the situations fizzled out.
Thiago Motta replaced De Rossi who had picked up a knock on his left thigh and Italy lost further control in midfield missing De Rossi’s vertical passing to break the lines. However, they did have a couple of good opportunities to extend their lead. First, when Parolo found Pelle who had come short and his first-time flick took Ramos out of the game. Eder went through on goal but De Gea stood tall and denied him.
Then another quick attack led to De Sciglio crossing across the face of goal with De Gea spilling it but he deserved his luck for having kept Spain in the game.
Spain unable to break Italy’s defence
Although Spain had penned Italy back for large parts of the second half and were carving out half chances, they weren’t really troubling Buffon. Most of the play was happening in front of the defence and there was a lack of movement coupled by stiff resistance from a solid defence.
Lucas Vasquez was introduced for Morata to add penetration in the attack from the right wing with Silva moving infield. Ramos and Aduriz had headed attempts off target before Pique and Iniesta tested Buffon with left footed long range efforts.
Pedro was thrown as a last resort although Aduriz had picked up a head injury after landing badly as the likes of Koke and Thiago remained on the bench. Pedro came close to reaching on the end of Silva’s cutback and Pique had the final chance which came from a long De Gea free kick but his effort was smartly saved by Buffon.
Having run his socks off, Eder was replaced by Insigne and the substitute was to play a part in the move which led to the second goal. His crossfield pass from the left wing found Florenzi’s replacement, Darmian who would proceed to tee Pelle via a deflection to kill the game off. Motta too was involved in the build-up and it was a fitting conclusion to the match.
Spain only managed 4 touches in the Italian box, 19 less than what they did in the 2012 final. They simply could not find a way past the organised defence.
Supreme fitness levels
While the tactical side of the Italian’s game was better than anything the tournament has produced so far, especially in the first half, their physical fitness and conditioning also deserves a mention. They were in great shape for the best part of the match while their opponents ran out of gas towards the end, lack of any rotation hampering them. Conte’s rotation no doubt helped them in being at the top of their game which saw the players run a combined 116 kilometres in the match.
It was 3 km down from a remarkable 119 km they clocked against Belgium but the entire tournament average is 108 km while only one other team has broken the 115 km barrier in 90 minutes so far. Giaccherini was immense, covering 13km and it was no wonder that he was all over the pitch. This shows the supreme levels Conte demands, and his players deliver.
Man of the Match – Graziano Pelle
At the time Euro 2012, Pelle was playing in the Serie B and was able to sign for Feyenoord because he met a friend of Ronald Koeman's son on a vacation in Ibiza. 4 years on, he put in a great centre-forward display to knock the holders of the competition out, capping his fine performance with a breakaway goal. He troubled Pique and Ramos and had a fantastic first half, dropping deep between the lines and linking up with wide players which was such an important part of Italy’s play.
The opening goal came from a freekick which had been conceded after he was fouled by Ramos in exactly the same position. He almost laid off another for Eder with an imaginative flick. In a tournament where strikers have been inhibited, Pelle has shone so far.
Conclusion
“It looks like coincidence,” Emanuele Giaccherini told reporters post game, “instead it is a project. All week we prepared this game down to the tiniest detail and il mister did a great job giving us the right concepts to face this team.”
Conte has been noted to be a coach obsessed with details. Apparently, footage emerged last night of Conte telling Chiellini where he needed to be in the wall just before Italy’s opener. It was a well-worked free-kick with two Italians on the outside of the wall who then were first to the loose ball.
This was just the goal, the match as a whole was won by detailed tactical nous and the first half was one of the best in the tournament. Italy not only out thought and outsmarted the champions, they also matched them blow for blow and came out on top. It seemed as if the Spanish weren’t prepared that Italy would look to out pass them
Spain went on to concede 7 shots on target which was their worst in the Euros since 1984 against Germany. And it was all down to the perfect execution of Conte’s plan.
Conte: We have shown that Italy is not catenaccio. Ideas can beat talent
The Spanish era of dominance has been put to bed in was a big statement by Italy and the win sets up another mouth watering clash, this time with the World Champions Germany. The Italians haven’t lost in 8 meetings at World Cups and Euros against them.
