VALENCIA. This Thursday’s match between Spain and Italy explained in eleven facts.
1. Buffon, the player with the most duels between Spain and Italy
Gianluigi Buffon, a legendary Italian goalkeeper who starred in a period of duels full of respect and mutual admiration with Iker Casillas, is the footballer with the most appearances in a confrontation between Italy and Spain with 13 appearances. He won two, drew six and lost five, conceding a total of 15 goals. They are followed by David Silva and Leo Bonucci with 11 games.
2. Spain has a slight advantage in history
The two victories, both in the semifinals of the Nations League, in the last two benchmarks, give the Spanish team an advantage in the history of confrontations. They won 13 of the games with 16 draws and 11 losses. The curious thing is that he scored fewer goals (45) than his rival (46).
Italy is the second rival that Spain has faced the most times. Only Portugal surpasses it with 41 confrontations. The Spanish team is the second rival against which the Italian team competed the most after Switzerland, with whom it played up to 59 matches.
3. Two ‘inexperienced’ teams at the international level
The Spanish squad that is competing in Euro 2024 averages 21.6 caps per player, while Italy’s averages 21.7. Only the Czech Republic has come with a more ‘newbie’ team at the national team level, with 16.5 caps per player on average.
With an average age of 27, Italy is the sixth youngest team; Spain is eleventh, at 27.6 years of age.
4. Spain’s record against Italy
Never before the final in kyiv at Euro 2012 was there such superiority of one team over another. Spain cruised past Italy, 4-0, with goals from David Silva, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata. It is the largest result in a final in the history of the Euro Cup. The previous one was West Germany’s (FRG) 3-0 victory over the Soviet Union in the 1972 edition.
5. Italy eliminated Spain from its last two Euro Cups
The Italian team took its particular revenge from the defeats in the 2008 and 2012 Euro Cups in the last two editions. The ‘azzurra’ eliminated La Roja in 2016, with authority (2-0), and fortune fell on their side in the semi-final penalty shootout in 2021, when they left the team led by Luis Enrique on the verge of glory after his best game at Wembley.
6. Carvajal and Di Lorenzo, reference sides
The two teams have one of their strengths on the side. Dani Carvajal is an offensive weapon for Luis de la Fuente, as he already demonstrated in his first match in a European Championship, scoring against Croatia. He is experiencing the sweetest scoring season of his career. Until this year he had scored 8 goals in 447 games and has achieved 7 in 50 games. Di Lorenzo is the footballer in the Italian league who has given the most passes this season. A total of 2,336.
7. A special match for Morata
In addition to the ties with Italy, where he has triumphed in his league and is playing this Eurocup considering the idea of returning and the nationality of his Italian wife Alice, the match is special for Álvaro Morata. With seven goals in eleven games, he is already Spain’s top scorer in the final stages of the Euro Cups and can chase Michel Platini as the second all-time top scorer in the competition with two goals.
Morata has scored two goals against Italy in six games. If he scores one more he will equal Baloncieri and Regueiro as the top scorer in the history of the match. The penalty he missed in the Euro 2020 semi-final shootout is burned into his head.
8. Italy, new queen of the pass
With Spain giving a change to its style and playing more vertically, Italy appears as the new queen of the pass after the first day of Euro 2024. It gave 822 passes, the most of all the teams, and completed 763. Far above Portugal (712 passes of which he completed 622) and Germany (697 and 657 good ones).
On the first day, Spain was the fourteenth team in passes, with 455 of which it completed 392, according to UEFA data. A radical change from a team that averaged 669.7 passes. Rodri and Jorginho are the two lights of the teams. The Spanish with 95.16 attempts and 88.79 completed passes while the Italian with 62.71 and 57.27 good ones.
9. The Black Beast of Donnarumma
As a senior, Gianluigi Donnarumma has played three games against Spain with two defeats and a draw with a taste of victory because he celebrated his place in the final thanks to his saves in a great match at Wembley in the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and the penalty shootout. .
He never kept a clean sheet against Spain, with five goals conceded in the three duels, and two recent defeats in the semifinals of the last two editions of the Nations League.
10. De la Fuente already defeated Italy
As coach of the senior team, Luis de la Fuente already has a good memory against Italy, the momentum in the 2-1 victory in the Nations League semifinals before winning the title. In the lower categories of the Spanish team he had two wins, one draw and two losses.
11. Spain has not won the Euro Cup since 2012; Italy defends crown
The Spanish team aspires to its fourth Euro Cup title, of which it has not been proclaimed champion since 2012. Since it became the only team to win two consecutive editions, it has fallen in the round of 16 and semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Italy defends the crown after becoming European champion of the 2020 edition held a year later due to the pandemic. It broke a long wait of 53 years without holding a Euro Cup. It was his second after the one won in 1968.
