Italy vs Spain semi final EURO 7.7.2021

Italy booked its place in the semi-final with an impressive 2-1 quarter-final victory over FIFA’s top-ranked nation Belgium. As a result, they’ve now reached the semi-finals of a major tournament on 12 occasions – the only European nation to better that is Germany (20) – and Roberto Mancini’s men have also won their last 15 Euro matches (including qualifiers) in what is a new competition record!

Based on the above, their confidence should be soaring. However, Italy did concede within 90 minutes last time out for the first time after 12 consecutive clean sheets in regulation time, showing a chink in the armor of that robust ‘Azzurri’ defense. Furthermore, their H2H record of one win in eight (D4, L3 – 90 mins) suggests there may be a mental barrier to overcome here.

Spain needed penalties to overcome Switzerland, and if the same is required here, they should be confident. They’ve now progressed via a penalty shootout on four occasions in the Euros, more than any other nation in the competition’s history. Luis Enrique’s men have also enjoyed some fortune in terms of their own goals, with three of the ten own goals at Euro 2020 going in their favor. Remarkably, that total often is more than the 15 previous editions of the European Championship finals combined (nine).

Although Spain managed just one goal against Switzerland last time out, they forced opposition goalkeeper Yann Sommer into ten saves, the most by any keeper in a single game at this tournament. This, plus the fact Spain scored ten goals across the two games prior to that fixture (including ET), highlights that their attack is in red hot form.

Players to watch: Italy’s Lorenzo Insigne has scored three goals in his last five internationals – two after the 65th minute. Meanwhile, Spain’s Álvaro Morata has found the net twice at Euro 2020 so far (once in ET), he also netted in a 3-0 win in the last H2H.

Hot stat: Both these sides rank first and second for the highest average number of shots attempted per match in Euro 2020 (Italy 20.2; Spain 19).