Luciano Spalletti is proud to be taking Italy to the 2024 European Championships, but he insists that the defending champions are not favourites to reclaim the trophy they won at Wembley three years ago at the expense of England. The manager, who took the reins in September, says other nations are capable of playing to a “higher level” than his side at present, who will attempt to win the tournament for a record-equaling third time.
A pair of warm-up matches are therefore vital in helping the squad gel together, the first of those coming against Turkey, where the Azzurri will attempt to extend a run of four games without defeat (W3, D1). History suggests that they should be confident of completing such a feat, as Italy have not lost a home friendly since September 2016, going unbeaten across seven outings since then (W4, D3), whilst keeping a clean sheet in each victory.
The visitors may also head to Bologna with a sense of trepidation, given that they remain winless across the previous 13 H2Hs (D3, L10), most recently suffering a 3-2 reversal in March 2022. That does not bode well for a team who were battered 6-1 by Austria in their last match then, which led to calls for manager Vincenzo Montella to stand down ahead of Euro 2024. That was despite Montella successfully overseeing Turkey’s last three Euro 2024 qualifiers (W2, D1) which saw them book their ticket for Germany by impressively finishing top of Group D.
He refused to walk away, stating that questions over his future were an “unnecessary provocation,” but the boss will be all too aware that speculation will continue to mount if the Crescent Stars do not quickly improve their form after losing three of their last seven outings (W3, D1). The fact he remains in the dugout adds some extra spice to this occasion as well, as the 49-year old was part of the Italy squad who finished as runners-up at Euro 2000.
Key battle: Seven of Nicolò Barella’s nine goals for Italy have proved to be the first or last of the game, whilst here he might come up against Turkey defender Zeki Çelik, who has won four of his seven friendlies (D1, L2) despite his side keeping only two clean sheets during that period.
Hot stat: Italy have scored at least twice in eight of their last nine friendly fixtures, while seven of those matches have witnessed 3+ total goals.
