Spain is preparing to face Italy in their second Group B match of Euro 2024, which will take place in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday night.
Coming off the back of a resounding 3-0 win against Croatia on Saturday, it looks as though Thursday evening’s tie could possibly determine who will finish top of what has been dubbed as ‘the group of death’.
The biggest piece of squad news for Spain is that their centre-back Aymeric Laporte has returned to full fitness, training with the rest of the group once again after being benched against Croatia.
Despite returning to the team, it is still likely that Laporte will start from the bench, given that he may not be at the same level of sharpness as his teammates.
Both Spanish captain Álvaro Morata as well as midfielder Rodri are said to be fit ahead of the crunch tie, despite having come off in the second half of the match against Croatia, with Morata describing it as “Just a knock“.
Looking at past encounters between the two nations, Italy have only lost once against Spain at a major tournament in 10 matches, with four wins and five draws against them in European Championship and World Cup encounters. Their sole loss came in the final of Euro 2012.
Meanwhile, Italy are also unbeaten in their last 10 games at the Euros, with their last defeat coming against the Republic of Ireland in the 2016 group stage.
Spain are likely to go with an ‘If it ain’t broke…’ approach to their lineup, of which you can see our prediction below:
Predicted Spain XI vs Italy
Unai Simón – Dani Cravajal, Robin Le Normand, Nacho, Marc Cucurella – Pedri, Rodri, Fabián Ruiz – Lamine Yamal, Álvaro Morata, Nico Williams
