Euro 2020 Semifinals: Italy vs Spain preview

Italy will have a Euro 2012 final rematch against Spain as they try to avenge their 4-0 loss from nine years ago in a bid to win the European Championship for only the second time in their history.

The match will be played at Wembley on Tuesday and is the more marquee matchup out of the two semi-finals.

Spain, who have won the trophy for a record three times, had to beat Switzerland on penalties to reach this stage. Luis Enrique has suffered the wrath of a lot of criticism for a number of reasons over the last one month or so.

However, if Spain win their next two matches, everyone in Spain will be singing praises about the former Barcelona manager.

Italy are considered favourites for not only beating Spain, but also winning the trophy after their impressive showing in the 2-1 win over Belgium. Belgium are the No.1 ranked side in the world, but they were dominated by an Italian side which has been rejuvenated under the tutelage of Roberto Martinez.

Despite being favourites in the match, Italy cannot forget that they have beaten Spain just twice in their last 14 meetings. One of those wins came in the 2016 edition of the Euros wherein Giorgio Chiellini and Graziano Pelle ensured a comfortable 2-0 win for Gli Azzurri.

Out of the four remaining teams in the competition, Spain and Italy are the most similar sides in terms of gameplay as they both tend to dominate possession in midfield which makes for a feisty battle in the middle of the field. Another thing which both teams share is their lack of clinical nature up front.

Spain have missed a lot of chances, especially in their first two group games. They also failed to beat Switzerland who were down to 10-men for around 33 minutes of the game. Italy’s Ciro Immobile has also been toothless in front of goal in the las few matches.

The winner of this game will face the winner of the England vs Denmark encounter which takes place on Wednesday at Wembley.