DORTMUND (GERMANY) (ITALPRESS) – Seeking victory at all costs, starting again from the performance at San Siro. Luciano Spalletti is convinced that there are all the margins to pull it off, that Italy lost to Germany due to a matter of episodes, but that in the end what the Azzurri put on the field was certainly not to be thrown away: “We start from a disadvantageous result,” the coach said in a conference, “we need a performance like the one we did, as expected they are a strong team, we knew that, but we did what we had to do and if we can repeat ourselves I am convinced that we can bring home the victory. We need a great performance.”
One goal from a corner kick and one from a lined-up defense, on a cross from the three-quarter line, but as often reiterated the issue should not become a cankerworm: “We knew we were facing a strong team. I in my life have hidden many defeats, but this one I did not want to treat it as something like that because we did what we had to do, there is only to change a few episodes and be able to determine even individually. Tomorrow, too, everything will count, especially the collective, because the team will count a lot.”
Hence, clinging to the group, so as to overturn the 1-2 that accrued just three days ago and that risks eliminating the Azzurri from the Uefa Nations League, as well as determining the race to the 2026 World Cup, sending Donnarumma and his teammates into Norway’s group. A few changes from the first leg are inevitable: Calafiori will not be there because of the knee problem suffered in the dying minutes: “Maybe in the first game a couple more days would have helped. But it’s like that for everyone: maintaining the level of attention and quality, even during the match, makes the difference. Frattesi is fine from what I could see, then I also saw that he played very little. Only the match can tell if he is able to play it well from the start, it is part of the evaluations. We are dealing with a strong national team and we also have to invent something.”
Therefore, Spalletti announced a certain presence, but he also talked about who might play in tomorrow night’s challenge: “Bastoni plays, it is normal that on the center-left it is as if he were on the couch at home. He and Buongiorno are two strong players who will have to coexist together with Calafiori.” The use of Gatti is not excluded because “of centimeters in this scenario the more the better.”
In the offensive sector a few more doubts, the coach made it clear that the center-forward pair formed by Lucca and Kean is unlikely to be there, at least from the start: “Given the match I think it’s better to have one who does a linking job between the two sectors, we have several there and since we want to win it if you then have them both play right away, then you don’t have who to put in eventually in the running game.” Then on the possibility of seeing Daniel Maldini’s debut from the first minute he added, “Why not? He has shown he is a top level player, he just needs to grind out minutes in important matches to catch his maximum. Zaccagni? He can do Politano’s job, he has improved in this offensive phase of the game by getting inside the field, but he has played little, so I see it risky to play him from the start.”
Also speaking at the press conference was Alessandro Buongiorno: “This is a stadium that evokes good memories, in these two days we have tried to recharge our batteries to arrive at our best tomorrow night – the words of the Napoli and national team defender – We talked about the goals we conceded, we must not make it an obsession, there is to be more careful on set pieces, we will deal with the loose balls by staying focused, talking a lot among ourselves.”
– Photo Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
