Speaking to the media ahead of Spain vs Italy, Luis Enrique gave his thoughts on tonight’s opponents.
“This Italy side isn’t, perhaps, like the ones of years gone by, one that would sit back and wait to see what happened. This is an Italy side with great players who aim to have a lot of possession. This will be the first battle in the game: who dominates possession?
“I don’t think both of us can dominate, so it’ll be interesting to see who wins this tussle.
“Apart from having top players, Italy are a real team. They attack and defend as a unit, which is very similar to what we do. They also employ a high press, which it would be hard to imagine an Italian side from the past doing.
“I don’t pick my XI based on the XI of the opponent. What concerns me is what I can control, what we can do on the pitch, the things we want to make happen.”
