Friendly match Italy - Spain 24 March 2016

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Friendly match: Italy - Spain



On Thursday, nine international friendly games are to be played, including the blockbuster Italy vs. Spain. As both of these two heavy weights qualified for the upcoming European championship, the Thursday match will be a good test for them. Italy went unbeaten in the qualifications but they have not been that successful in their recent friendly games, which is also why the Spaniards have slightly better chances of winning the duel. Starting at 8:45 PM (CET), the highly attractive clash between Italy and Spain will be played at the Friuli Stadium in Udine, Italy.



Italy



Italy met the expectations and with an impressive score of seven wins, three draws and no losses, they finished top of the Group H, ahead of Croatia and Norway. For Conte´s men, it will be the sixth consecutive EURO they have qualified for. The Italians began the preparation for the tournament at the end of the last year when they faced Belgium and Romania in two friendly games. Unfortunately for the Azzurri, they failed to win any of these matches as they lost to Belgium (1:3) and only tied with Romania (2:2). In fact, Italy do not have a good friendly matches record in general. Out of their last ten friendly games, they only managed to pick up two wins – over the Netherlands (2:0) and Albania (1:0). In their next fixture, the Italians will take on Spain who are not their favourite opponents though. In last seven head-to-head matches against this rival, Italy won just one. We will see if they can improve this poor record on Thursday.



Spain



After suffering an unexpected defeat in Slovakia in the second qualifying round, Spain dominated the next eight games. Eventually, the reigning European champions won their group, five points clear of the second-placed Slovaks. Looking to defend the title at the tournament, the Spanish have a habit of facing mainly high-profile opponents in their friendly games and the Thursday fixture against Italy is no exception. But not even Spain seem to pay any extra attention to the results they produce in the preparatory matches. Out of their last five friendly games, they lost three – against France (0:1), Germany (0:1) and the Netherlands (0:2). The last two matches turned out well for del Bosque´s men though – they beat Costa Rica (2:1) in June and claimed a valued 2:0 win over England in November. The Spaniards will begin their quest for the title defence in a very tough group with Turkey, Croatia and Czech Republic as their rivals, which makes their Thursday game against Italy a welcome opportunity to pit their wits against another elite European side.



Summary



Fans of top notch European football are in for a great spectacle as two of the Old Continent´s top teams Italy and Spain will cross their swords in a friendly (yet very intense and competitive) match. They both qualified for the European Championship with ease, having crushed most of their group opponents but now, they will take on each other in what promises to be a thrilling game. Italy, known for their well-organized and almost impenetrable defence against Spain, feared for their excellent technical skills. To find out which of these two great teams will have the upper hand in this stunning game, we will have to wait until Thursday night.



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