Spain vs Italy Preview

Spain and Italy will renew their rivalry this Thursday when both sides meet in the UEFA Nations League (UNL) semi-finals.

Both sides will face off at the De Grolsch Veste stadium in the Netherlands, with this tie a replay of the 2021 UNL semi-final showdown where Spain ended Italy’s world record 37-game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 win. However, the 2010 FIFA World Cup winners eventually lost the final to France by the same scoreline.

This will be the third game of new Spain manager Luis de la Fuente, and he will be desperate to do better than his most recent outing which was a 2-0 loss to Scotland in the European Championship qualifiers.

The former Under-19 and Under-21 coach will be looking for a reaction against the Azzurri,who are winless against Spain in their last four head-to-head meetings (D2, L2).

Meanwhile, Roberto Mancini’s side qualified for this stage of the UNL by finishing top of their tough group which featured Germany, Hungary, and England.

The Italians will now be looking to translate that form across all competitions. However, like opponents Spain, they come into this tie in patchy form as they could only manage a win and a loss from their opening two Euro 2024 qualifiers.

But having won three of their last four meetings on foreign soil, they will fancy their chances here.