Spain and Italy clash at FC Twente’s Grolsch Fortress on Thursday evening with a place in the UEFA Nations League final up for grabs.
The two sides last met in the 2020-21 Nations League semi-finals, with Spain claiming a 2-1 victory over Italy on that occasion.
🫠 ¡¡Madrid nos despide con calor!!😎 Solazo en la última sesión preparatoria en La Ciudad del Fútbol.#VamosEspaña | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/MkFZ8xZFv9— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) June 13, 2023
🫠 ¡¡Madrid nos despide con calor!!😎 Solazo en la última sesión preparatoria en La Ciudad del Fútbol.#VamosEspaña | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/MkFZ8xZFv9
The Spaniards went on to finish as runners-up after losing to France in the final, while the Italians finished third following a win over Belgium.
Spain experienced a disappointing World Cup campaign in Qatar, recording one win, one draw and one loss during the group stage before falling to Morocco in the last 16.
Since then, La Roja have registered a 3-0 victory over Norway and a 2-0 defeat to Scotland, starting their Euro qualifying campaign in indifferent form.
Spain have lost just one of their six Nations League matches this season, taking 11 points from a possible 18 to finish atop Group A2.
Having recorded six wins, two draws and three losses across the past 12 months, the Spaniards will be hopeful of notching a positive result on Thursday.
On the flip side, Italy suffered a 2-1 defeat to England in their first Euro qualifier before defeating Malta 2-0 to cap off March’s international break.
Let's not forget that Italy failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, so they will be desperate to make amends for recent failures.
It would not be unfair to say that Italy have endured an inconsistent 12 months, recording four wins and three losses across all competitions.
That said, Italy made light work of their Nations League group opponents, losing just one of their six group games to finish above England, Germany and Hungary.
Head-to-head: The overall H2H record between these two nations stands at 13 Spain wins, 10 Italy wins and 12 draws, with the first meetings coming all the way back in 1924.
The recent H2H record is also notably even, with both sides winning two and drawing two of the previous six encounters.
Team news: Spain’s squad contains Manchester City’s Champions League winners Rodri and Aymeric Laporte, along with three Real Madrid players, three Barcelona players and three Real Sociedad players.
As for Italy, 36-year-old Leonardo Bonucci will captain the team. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 19-year-old Wilfried Gnonto could earn his 11th cap.
Given the competitive nature of the head-to-head record between Spain and Italy, Thursday’s clash will likely be a close-fought battle.
Forebet predicts that Spain and Italy will serve up a goalless draw inside 90 minutes, with the semi-final expected to go the distance.