Italy will hope their Inter players arrive at their best for the UEFA Nations League semi final against Spain.
Roberto Mancini’s side take on Spain in Enschede, the Netherlands on Thursday.
The five Inter players called up – Nicolo Barella, Alessandro Bastoni, Federico Dimarco, Francesco Acerbi and Matteo Darmian – arrived at the Italian team’s national training centre at Coverciano, near Florence, after losing the Champions League final to Manchester City in Istanbul.
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“The focus is now on Thursday’s game,” defender Acerbi told a press conference. “There is respect for Spain, but no fear: we know their strengths and their weaknesses.”
The 2020 Euro champions are on the back foot after missing out on the World Cup.
“Not qualifying for the World Cup was probably our fault. Now there’s this Nations League, we want to win it, we’re going to give something extra to make it happen,” he added.
Spain finished runners-up to France in the 2021 finals, beating Italy in the first game.
The sides have clashed multiple times on big stages, including in the Euro 2020 semis, with Italy progressing on penalties before beating England to lift the trophy.
The last time Spain won a trophy, at Euro 2012, they thrashed Italy 4-0 in the final.
Luis de la Fuente’s team arrive in the tournament under pressure after a 2-0 loss against Scotland in March in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Goalkeeper Unai Simon said Spain’s style of play had not changed too much under De la Fuente.
“We go direct a bit more, but generally it hasn’t changed a lot,” Simon told a news conference Monday.
“There are areas that change and we have to adapt to that (but) we have the key elements and with them we’ll go all out against Italy.”
The final is on Sunday.