Reigning champions Italy got their European Championship title defense off to a flying start in Germany after pulling off a comeback win with 2:1 over Albania at “Signal Iduna Park” in the first match between the two teams from group B of the tournament, reported sportal.bg.
„The Red and Black“ surprisingly opened the scoring with the fastest goal in the history of the European championships, the work of Nedim Bajrami in the very first minute, but the “Azuri“ reached the ultimate success after a quick turnaround with goals from Nicolo Barella and Alessandro Bastoni, in the 11th and 16th minutes, respectively.
Luciano Spalletti bets on the expected starting line-up for the European champion. In defense, the inclusion of the young Riccardo Calafiori is most curious, while Nicolo Barella and Davide Fratesi, who have overcome their physical problems, are also starters. At the top of the attack in the 4-2-3-1 formation is Gianluca Scamcca, behind whom Lorenzo Pellegrini operates. The two wings are Federico Chiesa and Fratesi. Silvinho has arranged his line-up in 4-3-3 with the star Armando Broia as the central striker, and Yassir Asani and Taulant Seferi on the two flanks.
Reigning Italian champions suffered an early shock after conceding a goal from the dressing room. A misunderstanding between Federico Dimarco and Bastoni during their touch near their penalty area allowed Bajrami to shoot from a small angle and so the Albanian scored with a powerful shot in the 23rd second of the match.
“Azurites“ however, they reacted like scalded and in the following minutes, Pellegrini and Chiesa made unsuccessful shots. So it was until the 11th minute, when Bastoni avenged his mistake from earlier after equalizing with a header from a learned corner kick.
This gave the Italians extra strength and just five minutes later, Dimarco also compensated for the conceded goal, as he assisted Barella, who with a shot from the edge of the penalty area made the game turn complete. The Albanians claimed a foul in an attack at left-back, but the goal was nevertheless awarded after a quick VAR check.
There was a lull in the game, after which the Italians again went on the attack. In the 31st minute, Pellegrini made a rather unsuccessful backscissor. Two minutes later, Fratesi tried to cross Tomas Strakosha, but the keeper managed to knock the ball into the near post. In the 40th minute, Skamaka could also have made his team's lead more comfortable, but the opposing keeper blocked his shot. In the minutes before the break, Yassir Assani and Pellegrini reported with misses for their teams.
The second half started with a slight Italian pressure, and in the first 15 minutes of it, Scamakka and Chiesa made inaccurate shots from a long distance. In the next quarter, the “Azurites“ continued to control the game, but without threatening the opponent's goal. Meanwhile, Kristian Aslani tried a long shot, but it went wide.
In the 80th minute, Dimarco dared to shoot from a long distance, but Strakosha caught the ball without a problem. At the very end of regular time, substitute Ray Manai could have scored an equalizer after his shot beat Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the ball went wide. At the beginning of added time, a fan invaded the pitch, who was quickly detained by security.
Thus, Italy took the three points in its first match of the tournament and placed second in the group behind the leader Spain, which also has three points, but also with a better goal difference. Albania is in the third position without an asset, which also applies to Croatia, which is at the bottom. In the second round of the group stage, the Italians will face the Spaniards on June 20, and a day earlier the Albanians will face the Croatians.
ITALY - ALBANIA 2:1
0:1 Eid (1')
1:1 Batons (11')
2:1 Barrel (16')
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Calafiori, Bastoni, Dimarco, Jorginho, Barella, Chiesa, Fratesi, Pellegrini, Scamaca
Albania: Strakosha, Hisay, Djimsiti, Ayeti, Mitay, Aslani, Ramadani, Bayrami, Asani, Broja, Seferi