The teams have met 10 times at major tournaments, with Italy retaining the upper hand
Italy and Spain are two teams that seem to have forgotten what it feels like to lose – but something must give in their semi-final showdown at Euro 2020.
Spain have shrugged off pre-tournament tension, coronavirus chaos and gruelling knockout clashes to extend an impressive run that has seen them suffer just one defeat in 29 games and go unbeaten in 13.
A transitional side are aiming for a third European Championship crown in four editions but Italy, another continental heavyweight revived under Roberto Mancini, head to Wembley having not tasted defeat for 32 fixtures, going back to September 2018.
The teams have met 10 times at major tournaments, with Italy retaining the upper hand until Spain beat them on penalties en route to their Euro 2008 triumph – before thrashing them 4-0 in the final four years later.
A simmering rivalry had boiled over before then at the 1994 World Cup when Italy prevailed in the quarter-finals but the injury was added to insult for Spain as an elbow from Mauro Tassotti – an act that later earned him an eight-match ban – left Luis Enrique bloodied.
Fresh success is now sought – the Kiev showdown of 2012 was the last time side either made it this far in the tournament – and while they have traditionally been deemed footballing opposites, Luis Enrique believes the current crops are more philosophically aligned.
“This Italy side isn’t, perhaps, like the ones of years gone by – one that would sit back and wait to see what happened,” the man whose debut as national coach brought a win at Wembley told UEFA ahead of the game.
“This is an Italy side with great players who aim to have a lot of possession. This will be the first battle in the game: who dominates possession?
“I don’t think both of us can dominate, so it’ll be interesting to see who wins this tussle. They also employ a high press, which it would be hard to imagine an Italian side from the past doing.
“And the problem is that I can see Italy showing the same attitude as us… they feel like they are a real team unit.”
Mancini defended Spain’s possession-based style of play on Monday but is adamant his side will not change how they set up for their Euro 2020 semi-final.
“In the last 20 years they have dominated world football so I don’t think they will change their style of play now,” Mancini told a news conference. “Luis Enrique is a great coach for what he has shown.
“They have a style of play, invented by them, which has led them to extraordinary successes and they continue to do it well. Ours will be slightly different, we are Italian and we cannot suddenly become Spanish. We will try to play our game.
“We know that it won’t be that easy. We know that we need to produce a big performance because Spain are a top side.”
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