Spalletti prepares the anti-Swiss Italy: Fagioli as director and a lot more Giallorossi

Berlin - Change. Again. By will and necessity. To look for a different and better Italy and therefore (this is Spalletti's syllogism) those quarter-finals that would give complete meaning not only to the continental tournament, but also to the still short (it should not be forgotten) Azzurri season of the coach from Certaldo. The dream is to return, here at the Olympiastadion, the theatre of our football dreams given the victories at the 1936 Olympic Games and the 2006 World Cup. In fact, the final on 14 July will also be played here. But before dreaming, we have to overcome the obstacle of Switzerland, a concrete and solid team par excellence, which stole the pass for the World Cup in Qatar2022 and made even Germany suffer in the group stage, with a rich representation of protagonists of our Serie A, from the goalkeeper of the Italian champion Inter Sommer, to the large colony of Bologna. In short, the certainties of the Swiss against the potential - but also the fragility - that Azzurra has so far shown in a European Championship where, in truth, apart from Spain, none of the supposed big players have been fully convinced.

"I expect, from a psychological and personality point of view, something better than what we have seen so far": having blanched the post-Croatia tensions, Spalletti pushes the team, from which he asks for a leap in quality, which is also indispensable to overcome this Switzerland. And so here it is, the new Italy designed by the coach, ductile and intriguing, hoping that what can be glimpsed on paper will be realised on the pitch of the Olympiastadion. Donnarumma in goal is unmovable, protected by centre-backs Bastoni (despite being ill) and Mancini (replacing the disqualified Calafiori), then on the sides (the injured Di Marco is out) there are again Di Lorenzo and Darmian (also good at playing the role of defensive 'brace' in case of need); the key to the direction is surprisingly entrusted to Fagioli, supported by Barella and Cristante, with Chiesa and the other Roma player El Shaarawi supporting Scamacca, who will also play in relay with Retegui. Eleven starters, in which, as said, we can see a lot, from the direction divided among the three midfielders to El Shaarawi's ability to play (also) at full-back. In short, there seem to be a lot of ideas, and we will now see how many and which ones will survive the crash test against the Swiss aggression.

In truth, it is a bit of a stretch to compare this European crossover with the 2006 triumph, because there is so much different, apart from the imaginative backdrop of the Olympiastadion, a stadium whose history (it was a temple to celebrate the 1936 Nazi Games) and grandeur instils a strange awe in those who look out from the stands to admire the pitch, and the stands ready to fill with the usual 70,000 fans. Path, history, level of the tournament, moment, separate that Italy from this one, but the connecting link is obviously Gigi Buffon, today Italy's head coach and then phenomenal in defending the goal of the future world champions, who redeemed the sportingly dramatic summer of Calciopoli with that feat.

Scenarios and tensions are far from the Swiss horizon, with Murat Yakin's boys (assisted by Swiss-Italian deputy Contini) dreaming of becoming one of the tournament's loose cannons. This Berlin match is 'a new chapter after the elimination of the Azzurri at the World Cup' at the hands of the Swiss team, stresses the coach. "For Italy,' assures Yakin, 'we have done our homework, it is the country of tactics. We have to surprise them'. The coach seems oriented to replace the disqualified Widmer with Stergiou, while between Vargas and Rieder a ballot is foreshadowed for a probable 3-4-2-1 against Italy: "We are on the ball, we have prepared well - underlines the Helvetic selector -. For Italy everyone is ready, we have fought for this match. After the World Cup challenge, this is a new chapter. It was a positive moment and we hope to relive it here'. And after the controversy at home in Italy after Croatia, here's a question to the Red Swiss selector about a pact between him, Xhaka and his players. "It's water under the bridge, journalists have instrumentalised things that happened in the past. Between me and Xhaka there is a great relationship, we are both people who have the good of the team in mind, we don't think about what is written."

Finally, the spotlight is on the two aces in goal: Gigio Donnarumma, de facto best number one of the first phase, and Yann Sommer, the Nerazzurri goalkeeper who has given the usual concreteness to the Swiss defence department. If Gigio hopes for an Italy capable of doing many small and big things better than in the first three matches, especially in the management of the ball and in coming out of pressing, Sommer raises the challenge to the Azzurri: "We are not favourites, we are playing against the defending champions. Italy is the favourite, but we are ready - assures the Nerazzurri fullback - the atmosphere in the team is excellent, I am happy to play these round of 16 with Italy. Our European Championship? We played and defended with a lot of courage, now Italy is waiting for us, a team of enormous offensive variability, we will need a defensive performance at the maximum of our possibilities, only in this way we will be able to give Italy a hard time".