Italy 2-1 Albania
If the first few games of Euro 2024 are the benchmark for the quality of competition throughout the tournament, then the football world is up for a wild ride.
Four matches have already concluded, with hosts Germany demolishing Scotland 5-1, Switzerland claiming a 3-1 win over Hungary, and Spain neatly cruising past Croatia 3-0, but the match between Italy and Albania boasts itself as the most firecracker of a match in the whole tournament thus far.
There had been a lot of doubts circulating around the Italian squad from fans and pundits alike, this SBOTOP writer included, but their statement win against Albania have immediately put Gli Azzurri back on the map.
Highlights of the game
The defending champions, Italy, found themselves trailing in the very first minute of their Euro 2024 campaign, as Nedim Bajrami took advantage of a golden opportunity and stuck the opening goal after just 23 seconds of play.
Barjami, who’s coincidentally a Serie A forward for Sassuolo, capitalised on Italy’s miscommunication on defence and struck Albania’s first goal of the tournament. Expecting Euro 2024 highlights to be world-class is fair, but what Albania managed to do is simply historic.
But despite their opening blunder, Italy didn’t seem fazed at all. It’s known that this Italian team is pushing for a youth movement, but they showed a level of maturity way past their years.
To answer back, Gli Azzurri scored two goals in a span of five minutes. Now that’s how you overcome adversity.
The charge was headed by Inter’s Alessandro Bastoni, who thumped in a header from a Pellegrini corner in minute 11 to put Italy on the scoreboard.
Five minutes later, another Inter Milan star, Nicolo Barella, stunned the entire SIGNAL IDUNA PARK with one of the most beautiful goals in the tournament. The 27-year-old midfielder stuck the ball past a wall of Albanian players, leaving Thomas Strakosha in a hopeless situation as he watched Barella’s attempt swerve into the net.
It took just 16 minutes to decide the fate of these clubs, and it was ultimately the defending champions who left the pitch with a win in their back pockets.
Despite the win, Italy boss Luciano Spalletti couldn’t help but nitpick his team’s flaws and was adamant that his squad needs to be better as they continue their campaign.
“We saw lots of good play out there, but it has to get you somewhere, because if it doesn’t, it’s no use to anyone,” Spalletti stated after the match. “Sometimes it’s easy to get comfortable with how you’re playing, but instead you need to be aggressive, hungry to create more, and try to score that extra goal.”
Key statistics
The Euro 2024 odds for this match predicted Italy’s dominance, putting them as the heavy favourites against Albania, and sure enough, Italy did just that.
Gli Azzurri had a field day on the atticking end, putting up 17 attempts to Albania’s 8. Italy also dominated the possession game, controlling the ball for 69 per cent of the match.
“We had lots of opportunities to do Albania damage. We worked on moves and how to get at their defence, but we kept turning backwards,” Spaletti exclaimed in a post-match interview.
After this match, Albania are still winless when facing Italy. This was their fifth meeting, and Italy have swept their head-to-head record against Albania. There is still a possibility that these rivals would meet later in the tournament, but for now, Italy undeniably have Albania’s number.
This win is the marks the seventh triumph of Luciano Spalletti’s term as Italy’s head coach. Now with a 7W, 3D, 1L record, the doubts over Spalletti’s hiring should be over and done.
What’s next?
Spalletti’s men looked dominant despite their opening-minute fumble, but they have to stay sharp as they’ll have to face tougher opponents in Spain and Croatia as the tournament proceeds. Their next obstacle would be an impressive Spain outfit that recently dominated Croatia with a 3-0 clean sheet victory.
Elsewhere, Albania will have a crack at Croatia for their next task. Both sides found themselves on the losing end of their opening matches, so expect spirited efforts from both outfits when they meet at Volksparkstadion next week.
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