Let’s start with three questions.
First of all, can you think of any Spanish players who have had serious success in Italian football this century?
Secondly, can you think of the opposite: Italians who thrived in La Liga during this era?
And thirdly, can you think of any top-class Italian wingers during this same period?
All of these questions relate, in different ways, to Spain’s 1-0 victory over Italy in Gelsenkirchen. It was a score travesty for an incredibly impressive performance from Spain, who very easily could have won 5-0 without anyone thinking it was tough on Italy.
It was absurd that the only goal was also an own goal, although it did highlight some of Spain’s well-known flaws, namely their inability to turn their dominance into goals. Maybe this will come back to haunt them in the round of 16. But that’s for a later date.
Calafiori’s own goal ended the match, but the score could have been higher in Gelsenkirchen (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
For now, let’s marvel at probably the most consistent performance of Euro 2024 so far, given the quality of the opposition.
After all, for the past two decades, Spain versus Italy has arguably been the main battleground of the European Championships. They faced each other in 2008, twice in 2012, 2016, 2020 and now in 2024. They are the only two nations to have won both the World Cup and the European Championship in the last 20 years. And, more pertinently, they have always been very different footballing nations.
Some European nations go very well together in terms of football, but Spain and Italy are like oil and water. Coming back to the first questions, there is a feeling that Spanish football has somewhat looked down on Italian football in recent decades, given its defensive, tactical and old-fashioned football. Therefore, Spanish players did not venture to Italy and Spanish clubs did not recruit Italians.
When Spain’s dominance of European football became evident around 15 years ago, it became in part a model for Italy. This has always been a slightly controversial topic: some Italians are traditionalists and want to compete like typical Italian teams. But they won the last European Championship under Roberto Mancini with friendly football, and the reigns of Cesare Prandelli, from 2010 to 2014, and Luciano Spalletti, since last year, have introduced more positive coaches.
The Spanish influence was notable by the use of several playmakers in midfield. Prandelli often used Andrea Pirlo, Thiago Motta, Daniele De Rossi and Claudio Marchisio together. Mancini could count on both Marco Verratti and Jorginho. It was the Spanish way.
“We must take the initiative,” Spalletti said during his press conference yesterday. “You have to have courage to play the ball,” admitted left-back Federico Dimarco. With Jorginho and Nico Barella in the engine room, Italy could perhaps compete.
But Spain has moved away from this approach of cramming in as many playmakers as possible. Where they once used David Silva and Andres Iniesta on the flanks – essentially bonus No.10s – they now use electric wingers.
Luis Enrique was sacked after the World Cup 18 months ago, partly because his obsession with the possession game was too predictable. Luis de la Fuente’s tenure was characterized by the idea that Spain was now more direct. In their opening match against Croatia, they recorded less than 50% possession in a competitive match for the first time since Euro 2008. It’s about ‘modernization’ and ‘verticality’ .
And this verticality was evident here, through their wingers. On the left, Nico Williams had the best individual performance of the tournament so far. Within two minutes, he bamboozled Giovanni Di Lorenzo and crossed for a header that Pedri should have buried.
Every time Williams got the ball, Di Lorenzo looked terrified – so much so that Williams even beat him in the air at one point, which produced a wild hack from Di Lorenzo to bring him down.
Fellow defender Alessandro Bastoni did the same shortly after, almost out of sympathy. Di Lorenzo is not a flashy full-back; he is on the side to be solid. And when your strong full-back gets beaten like this, time and time again, you know you’re in trouble.
On the other flank, Dimarco did not fare any better against Lamine Yamal, the youngest player in the competition. Yamal dribbled inside to create a great chance for Alvaro Morata. He later cut inside and grazed the far post with a curling effort, which seemed to prompt Williams to do the same, cutting inside from the left to his right foot and smashing the ball against the woodwork .
It truly looked like a new Spain, using more of an old-fashioned Dutch-style 4-3-3, with wingers who wanted to take on their man, who could go in or out, who could cross or dribble.
Williams’ good work could have produced several goals, particularly when he dribbled past Di Lorenzo, who was afraid to engage and backed away, allowing Williams to push the ball inside for the run and cutback underlying themes of Marc Cucurella. Somehow Pedri got his foot out of the way.
The goal ultimately came from a threatening dribble from Williams, and his cross was deflected into the path of the unfortunate Riccardo Calafiori, who turned the ball into his own net, for another Euro 2024 own goal.
Italy now produces midfield passers the Spanish way, but they still don’t really produce wingers. Federico Chiesa, one of the revelations of the last European Championship, is perhaps a rare exception, although he also feels like a shooter rather than a dribbler from the side, a bit like his father Enrico, an excellent second striker at the turn of the century.
Italian players tend to be hard workers; tactically disciplined players who make a lot of runs and allow the central players to shine. They don’t stretch the game and beat a man. It seemed typical that even Spalletti, an adventurous coach, felt willing to introduce Andrea Cambiaso – a versatile, jack-of-all-trades player – to double up against the brilliant Williams and stop him. He’s your Italian player. Of course, he couldn’t stop Williams either.
7 – The only player to have completed more dribbles than Nico Williams (6) #EURO2024 so far, it is his teammate Lamine Yamal (7). Duo. pic.twitter.com/7KlfVrhblF
– OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 20, 2024
For the first time, it really feels like a new era in Spain, a post-tiki-taka world, with Yamal and Williams as the stars.
In midfield, Rodri is another Sergio Busquets, Pedri grew up admiring Iniesta and Fabian Ruiz is a confident and solid left passer. More of this type from Spain. But now there is also speed, breadth, risk-taking And excitement.
Tonight, they were on another planet than Italy. As always, these two footballing nations still feel very separate.
(Photos: Getty Images)