Key events
10 min: Morata whips in a cross from the left. Williams, who should have an assist to his name already, flashes a header wide right from six yards. Spain should be 2-0 up, with Pedri and now Williams both passing up gilt-edged chances.
9 min: Scamacca chases after Pellegrini’s flick-on. He could hit it, 25 yards out, but opts for a back-heel instead to nobody.
8 min: Pellegrini is thankfully fine to continue. And now Cucurella clips Frattesi, so it’s clear Spain are happy to scruff up their threads if needs be. Did anyone really expect either of these sides to give any quarter?
7 min: Pedri catches Pellegrini late. Studs on shin, though he’d got the ball first, in an attempt to flick it past the defender. It didn’t look malicious but it’s a sore one nonetheless for Pellegrini, who requires some treatment.
5 min: That’s got Italy a bit jittery, and Morata very nearly closes Donnarumma down as the keeper dallies with the ball at his feet. If the early evidence is anything to go by, Italy will certainly need to get those metaphorical Armani suits filthy tonight.
3 min: That’s not a patch on Albania’s 23-second stunner, but it’s still a slow start by Italy. And Williams comes at them again down the left, nearly getting clear a second time. Spain making some early statements here.
2 min: Spain respond by nearly scoring. Williams tears down the left and reaches the byline. He loops infield for Pedri, who should score from six yards but heads straight at Donnarumma, who tips over. The keeper should never had had the chance. Nothing comes of the set piece.
After a moment of silence in memory of former Uefa general secretary Gerhard Aigner, who passed away today at the age of 80, Italy get the ball rolling. They dribble forward immediately from the kick-off and win a throw deep in Spanish territory … then fling it straight out of play for a goal kick. Onwards. Upwards.
The teams are out! Spain in red, Italy in second-choice white. The national anthems are belted out: Italy’s a hymn to the goddess of Victory being a slave of Rome, Spain’s a great chance to go tum-te-diddly-dum (no lyrics, you see). We’ll be off in a minute.
“We wear Giorgio Armani. We’ll go out there in our Sunday best. And we’ll be willing to actually scuff up our beautiful suits if required.” Italy coach Luciano Spalletti there, with a none-more-Italian response to being asked whether his team are prepared to mix it tonight if needs be. The elegant threads on display in Gelsenkirchen confirm the first part of the bargain has been kept …
… so it just remains to be seen if Italy’s play can be as stylish, and whether tonight’s match between two old enemies descends into the rough-house. Here’s hoping! / Won’t somebody think of the kids? [delete according to preference] Though as characteristically chic as Italy’s 2024 duds are, they can never ever be quite as stylish as the 1982 cut. They just can’t, and we don’t write the rules.
Some pre-match reading. Courtesy of the good doctor.
Spain make one change to their starting line-up after the 3-0 win over Croatia. Aymeric Laporte takes the place of Nacho in defence. Rodri and Alvaro Morata start after being substituted against Croatia due to minor injuries.
Italy are unchanged after their 2-1 victory over Albania. No great surprise there: that opening group win was their fourth in their last five games.
The teams
Spain: Simon, Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Fabian, Yamal, Morata, Williams.
Subs: Raya, Vivian, Merino, Joselu, Olmo, Torres, Grimaldo, Remiro, Baena, Zubimendi, Oyarzabal, Jesus Navas, Lopez, Perez, Nacho.
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori, Dimarco, Frattesi, Jorginho, Barella, Chiesa, Scamacca, Pellegrini.
Subs: Buongiorno, Gatti, Raspadori, Vicario, Darmian, Bellanova, Cristante, Mancini, Retegui, Zaccagni, Fagioli, El Shaarawy, Cambiaso, Folorunsho, Meret.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
Preamble
It’s the European Championship finals, so of course it has to be Spain v Italy. This is the fifth finals in a row in which these two giants of European football meet. Spain beat the Azzurri in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, then trounced them 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final, a record win in the showpiece as they became the first team to retain the European Championship. Italy have got their own back since, beating La Roja in the round of 16 at Euro 2016, then in the semis en route to winning Euro 2020.
Go a wee bit further back and there have been other big tournament showdowns, ones Spain would rather ignore: Italy triumphed in the quarter-finals of the 1934 and 1994 World Cups, and knocked them out of the groups at Euro 80 and Euro 88. Spain however have the slight edge on the overall record, with 13 wins set against 11 losses in 40 meetings.
So Italy have had Spain’s number more often than not in the tournaments, but Spain have more all-time victories, plus they’ve thrashed Italy in a final. Good luck guessing who’s going to take control of Group B in Gelsenkirchen tonight, then. Kick-off is at 8pm. It’s on!
