The Judgment Night. Croatia-Italy will decide whether our European route will move forward or will sadly stop at the group stage, even if there is also the possibility of returning to the group stage best thirds: in that case, however, we would have to wait until Wednesday to have the complete ranking. The hope, obviously, is to avoid this additional load of stress and earn the pass for the eighth by seconds, then going to face Switzerland (who qualified yesterday with a 1-1 draw against Germany) next Saturday, especially since a draw would be enough to do so, regardless of the result of Albania-Spain.
Croatia – Italy (21pm, Rai Uno and Sky)
Tension-filled eve for the Azzurri, inevitably marked by the defeat against the Red Furies which weakened spirit and morale. Spalletti had to work first of all onpsychological aspect, because the KO in Gelsenkirchen was much clearer than the final 1-0: the risk of leaving mortified exists and the coach must find adequate remedies, especially since tonight he will find himself facing a very insidious opponent. There Croatia has so far disappointed expectations, but it has players of great international caliber and will play without making any kind of calculations, which makes it as dangerous as a wounded animal. L'Italy, however, it could pass even with a draw and this risks affecting their performance, especially after the bad test against Spain.
Many have pointed the finger at Spalletti and his technical-tactical choices actually proved to be wrong, although the coach blamed the physical condition first and foremost. However, he too knows that everything cannot be reduced to this, it is no coincidence that tonight both the men will change (four changes are expected compared to Thursday) and the playing system (via the 4-2-3-1 for a 4-1 -4-1 much more conservative). The feeling is that the Italian coach has not yet found a solution and this is very worrying, given that the time for experiments is definitely over. That said, he urges one response from the group and the most representative players: the Inter block, first and foremost, but also Chiesa and Jorginho, driving forces in the European campaign three years ago and unrecognizable today. Spalletti, after having tried the path of the game, is ready to touch other types of strings, in the hope that the Azzurri will follow him and give meaning to this path.
Spalletti continues on his path: "The game plan doesn't change, trust this Italy"
"It would be a It's a mistake to think that a draw is enough with Croatia – he warned Spalletti -. Changes can be made by inserting players with different characteristics, but the game plan doesn't change and we want to play the game. I'm calmer when we have the ball and more agitated when the opponents have it. It will be a race in which there is the right pressure because it has a lot of importance from the point of view of the result and involves the feelings of many people, it must be managed well: we have to do our best, moment after moment, to be at peace with conscience. It's clear that I didn't like the match against Spain, we talked about it and analyzed it, I expect that defeat to have taught us something. We will change some team attitudes, we need more certainties of continuity of play and resilience within the match. We will try to have less beauty, but more substance so as not to risk ending up in the hands of their quality, then it's clear that we want to play the match equally in mid-field and not in front of our penalty area, otherwise it becomes risky."
Bastoni doesn't make calculations: "We want to win to make up for the defeat against Spain"
"Fear is a word I don't like approaching football, the fears are different and concern much more serious things – he underlined Sticks -. We saw Croatia, even in the defeat against Spain they created many opportunities, we have great respect for them, we know many of their players, we know what experience they have. The defeat we took left us a lot, it united us more: it's easy when you win but it's when you lose that the value of the player and the man must come out. Playing for a draw? From a mental point of view we want to go on the pitch to win because it would be important after a defeat like the one against Spain. We want to impose our game as Spalletti wants and as we want too, we need to perfect the wrong movements against Spain and try to play as the coach wants."
Dalic charges his team: "We are ready to win against Italy"
“We know well what our situation is: we just have to win to avoid going home too early – he confirmed bluntly Dalic -. That's what we don't want, and we're ready. Every match is difficult, everyone is fit except Vida who won't be available. Spalletti is an excellent coach, I congratulate him on his successes: Italy only needs one point, we will try not to let them do so, to remain calm and not fall into their game, preventing them from holding it in their hands, not to give in to any football provocation. So far we haven't played at our level, compared to the World Cup in Qatar the problem is that we concede too many goals, we have already conceded five. It's true that we have old players, but age doesn't matter. We are ready and focused on Italy, we will wear our national team's shirt on the pitch with honor."
Croatia – Italy, the lineups
Compared to Thursday, as previously mentioned, there will be changes both in the men and in the gaming system. Spalletti will turn to a 4-1-4-1 with Darmian, Cambiaso, Cristante and Retegui in place of Dimarco (recovered and therefore available), Frattesi, Pellegrini and Scamacca. Even stronger choices for Dalic, who will compete for qualification without two big players like Perisic and Brozovic, who appeared very subdued in the first two matches against Spain and Albania and are ready to take over, if necessary, during the match in progress.
Croatia (4-2-3-1): Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Modric; Mario Pasalic, Sucic, Kramaric; Petkovic
- Coach: Dalic
- On the bench: Vusic, Labrovic, Sosa, Perisic, Vida, Juranovic, Brozovic, Majer, Erlic, Baturina, Ivanusec, Pjaca, Vlasic, Marco Pasalic, Budimir
- Unavailable: none
- Disqualified: none
Italy (4-1-4-1): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori, Darmian; Jorginho; Cambiaso, Cristante, Barella, Chiesa; Retegui
- Coach: Spalletti
- On the bench: Vicario, Meret, Mancini, Buongiorno, Gatti, Dimarco, Bellanova, Zaccagni, Frattesi, Fagioli, Scamacca, Pellegrini, El Shaarawy, Folorunsho
- Unavailable: none
- Disqualified: none
