A titanic clash unfolds at Wembley as two high-scoring sides in Italy and Spain confront each other to book a place in the showpiece final. These two European juggernauts share a long-standing rivalry in the competition itself and are not leaving any stones unturned for glory. The Azzurri's are in their fifth semifinal and aiming for a fourth final in their Euro history. On the other hand, La Roja are arriving in their fourth semi final before featuring in the showpiece for the third time. The winner will face England or Denmark in the main event.
The Italians got their job down in the quarterfinals by overcoming Belgium with a stellar attacking show in the first half and an equal showing at the back the latter half. Nicolo Barella opened the scoring on the half-hour mark before Lorenzo Insigne doubled the lead in a stunning fashion. Belgian star Romelu Lukaku made matters interesting, scoring from the spot just before the break but Italy held on to claim a magnificent win to face Spain in the semis. The excitement was downed a bit due to the sad injury Leonardo Spinazzola suffered during the game causing him to miss the rest of the tournament.
Switzerland forced Spain to another penalty shootout after eliminating France in the process in the other quarter final clash but this time there were no surprises. Spain won the penalty shootout 1-3 comfortably with Mikel Oyarzabal taking the final spot-kick after Vargas missed for the Swiss. Luis Enrique's men took an early lead through Denis Zakaria's own goal amidst controlling the possession as usual throughout the game. The Swiss plan of counter-attacking position paid off again as they left Spain frustrated levelling up the score in the 68th minute through Xherdan Shaqiri. Remo Freuler got sent off few minutes after even though Spain failed to find the back of the net in normal and extra time mostly down to Yann Sommer's heroics between the sticks.
Italy vs Spain Match Details :
When: Tuesday, July 6/ Wednesday, July 7th
Timings: 00:30 (IST)/ 21:00 (CET)
Where: Wembley Stadium, London, England
Recent Form (Euro 2020) :
Italy: WWWWW
Spain: DDWWD
ITA vs SPA Dream11 Team News :
Injuries & Suspensions
One of the contestants for player of the tournament, Leonardo Spinazzola fail down on the floor in agony deep in the second half of the quarterfinal clash against Belgium and left the pitch in tears on a stretcher. Later, it was confirmed the flashy left-back ruptured his Achilles tendon that ruled him off from the rest of the Euros. The news is a big blow for Italy. Spinazzola was key to Roberto Manchini's tactics of playing the revolutionized attacking football. Now, he will be out for an estimated 6-7 months or even a year following his surgery. Emerson Palmieri is set to begin against Spain in place of him. Except for this, the team is unchanged from the quarterfinals. Alessandro Florenzi has returned to training from his injury but he is unlikely to replace Di Lorenzo for the starting spot.
Spain have some injury problems of their own. Pablo Sarabia is missing the fixture through a muscular strain confirmed by Luis Enrique in the pre-game build-up and is a big miss to the side. The PSG winger contributed to three goals in the past three games but was substituted after halftime in the game against Switzerland because of the problem. RB Leipzig star Dani Olmo is set to replace him after starting from the bench in the last two knockout matches. Aymeric Laporte trained separately from the group with only gym work to manage as he is the only player to play every minute in the Euros so far besides goalkeeper Unai Simon. He will feature at the back as usual with Pau Torres.
Italy vs Spain Predicted Lineups :
Italy: Gianluigi Donnarumma; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Emerson Palmieri, Nicolo Barella, Jorginho, Marco Verratti, Federico Chiesa, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne
Spain: Unai Simon; Cesar Azpilicueta, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Torres, Jordi Alba, Koke, Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Ferran Torres, Alvaro Morata, Dani Olmo
Italy vs Spain Head to Head :
As mentioned earlier, these two nations carry a fiery rivalry between them if European Championship alone is taken into consideration. Both of them have offered some unforgettable games on this stage whenever they went face to face. This is their sixth meeting in the competition history. The first of such meetings occurred back in the 1980 European Championship group stage resulting in a goalless stalemate. Italy obtained victory in the next one when Gianluca Vialli struck in the 74th minute in the group stages of 1988 Euros. Spain took charge after that winning a dramatic penalty shootout in the quarterfinal stage of 2008 and again in 2012 Euros destroying the same opposition 4-0 in one of the fascinating football ever played in a final. Spain's back-to-back title streak was however broken by Italy themselves as they knocked them out in the last 16 stages at the 2016 Euros.
ITA vs SPA Dream11 Fantasy Team Prediction :
GK: Gianluigi Donarumma (Ita)
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta (Spa), Giorgio Chellini (Ita), Aymeric Laporte (Spa), Jordi Alba (Spa)
MID: Sergio Busquets (Spa), Jorginho (Ita), Nicolo Barella (Ita), Pedri Gonzalez (Spa)
FW: Alvaro Morata (Spa), Lorenzo Insigne (Ita)
Donarrumma's fabulous save denied Belgium any sort of comeback attitude in the quarterfinal clash and he is poised to do the same in the big times. Giorgio Chiellini was a pillar at the back in that game reminding everyone that he still counts as one of the best defenders on earth. Leonardo Spinazzola would have been an obvious choice on the left for fantasy picks but for his injury, Jordi Alba claims the spot. Sergio Busquets shined in yet another game showing his ever-present passing qualities in dictating the tempo for Spain again and again. The same goes for Italy's Jorginho displaying an excellent midfield performance in the Belgium game and the tournament. Nicolo Barella scored his first goal of the tournament with a exquisite turn and shoot and he is a key character to drive the Azzurri forward. Lorenzo Insigne will miss partner Spinazzola on the left but his pictured perfect strike in the quarterfinal belongs to the reel of the tournament warning Spain of his class. Alvaro Morata does a lot of tasks aside from scoring that is less appreciated for so his hard work is key to influence others.
Match Prediction: Italy 2-1 Spain
We will get our first finalist of Euro 2020 in the form of Italy. Spain has shown their ruthless nature of scoring goals but lately has struggled to see out games. They also found themselves vulnerable to opposition counters. Italy's impressive display both in attack and defense has proven them, strong contenders, for the title and it will be no better than to douse their rival's chance in getting to the final.
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