Spain vs. Italy Euro 2024 live updates: Nico Williams shines, lineups, score, highlights

Posted by Admin June 20, 2024 Football

Spain and Italy face off Thursday in what Spain’s manager calls the “most important match in the group stage” at Euro 2024.

Both teams won their opening games (Spain 3-0 vs. Croatia, Italy 2-1 vs. Albania) and the winner of Thursday’s showdown in Gelsenkirchen, Germany clinches a spot in the knockout round.

“We are prepared to get muddy, to dig deep in a quarry and for a day in the office. Ready for everything,” Spain manager Luis de la Fuente told reporters on Wednesday.

Spain has won the European championship three times (1964, 2008, 2012) and Italy is a two-time winner (1968, 2020) and this is the fifth consecutive Euros that the two teams have met.

Stay tuned Thursday for live updates from the monumental match:

Spain is keeping Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma busy in the first half hour, requiring saves on a tight-angle effort by Alvaro Morata and a long-range effort from midfielder Fabian Ruiz. That’s three through 30 minutes for the 25-year-old who plays for Paris Saint-Germain

Spain has had about 64.3% possession so far and are keeping the Italians pushed back on defense.

Spain has been feeding left winger Nico Williams through the first 15 minutes and the 21-year-old running all over Italy’s right flank. His ball from the end line set up a Pedri header that required Gianluigi Donnarumma to make a save in the second minute and Williams had a big chance on a header a few minutes later.

Williams, who plays for Athletic Bilbao in Spain, is making his 16th international appearance.

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was called on less than two minutes into the match, making a point-blank save on Pedri’s header, which came on a pinpoint Nico Williams cross from the end line.

Donnarumma was named best player of the tournament at Euro 2020, leading Italy to the title.

Spain: Unai Simon; Dani Carvajal, Robin Le Normand, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella; Fabian Ruiz, Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Alvaro Morata (c), Nico Williams

Italy: Gianluigi Donnarumma (c); Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori, Federico Dimarco; Jorginho, Nicolo Barella; Federico Chiesa, Davide Frattesi, Lorenzo Pellegrini; Gianluca Scamacca

Spain centre half Aymeric Laporte will make his first appearance at Euro 2024 against defending champions Italy on Thursday, replacing Nacho in the starting team for the Group B game.

Laporte was the only change for Spain manager Luis de la Fuente, who kept faith with left back Marc Cucurella while midfielder Rodri and captain Alvaro Morata start after being substituted during Saturday’s win over Croatia due to minor injuries.

Italy are unchanged from their 2-1 win over Albania with Gianluca Scamacca leading the attack and a back four including 22-year-old Riccardo Calafiori alongside Alessandro Bastoni.

The winners will advance to the round of 16 at the top of Group B. Croatia and Albania have one point apiece after two games.

– Reuters

Odds via BetMGM:

Spain to win: +125
Italy to win: +250
Draw: +210

With a faster, more direct approach than the possession-based “tiki-taka” style that made them European champions in 2008 and 2012 as well as World Cup winners in 2010, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente believes the 2024 versions of both teams are very similar in the way they play.

“We are much alike, they are also a team that are still under development, with a lot of young players and a new coach, very competitive in their approach… When I see them it’s like looking at ourselves in the mirror,” De la Fuente said.

“They are a team on the rise with a very good collective mindset. It will be a very balanced match between two traditional sides. It’s a football classic, a clash that could easily be a Euro or World Cup final.”

– Reuters

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente praised Lamine Yamal after his first appearance at a major tournament on Saturday and talked up the teenager’s potential to become a great player.

Yamal, at 16 the youngest player to appear at the European championship.

“Yamal is impressing everyone and going up through the levels,” De la Fuente said after Spain’s 3-0 thrashing of Croatia in the Group B game. “He has to keep fdimproving every day, and over time he will become a wonderful footballer,” the coach added.

– Reuters

Thursday’s Spain vs. Italy match will air on FOX at 3 p.m. ET and stream on FoxSports.com and Fubo.

England missed the chance to book its place in the knockout stage of Euro 2024 after they were held to a 1-1 draw against Denmark in Group C on Thursday.

England took the lead in the 18th minute after the rapidly advancing Kyle Walker caught Danish defender Victor Kristiansen ambling towards the ball and the full back’s low deflected cross into the box fell to captain Harry Kane who slotted it in. However, Gareth Southgate’s side failed to press home their advantage, and a sloppy throw-in 16 minutes later came to Morten Hjulmand who had time and space to smash the ball low and in off the post from long range.

Euro 2020 runners-up England had been touted as tournament favorites yet struggled to fashion decent chances throughout the match. They remain on top of Group C on four points, while Denmark are second on two after Slovenia’s 1-1 draw with Serbia earlier.

– Reuters

Euro Spain vs. Italy: ‘Most important match’ of group stage

Defending champions Italy may have won their Euro 2024 opener against Albania with an unexpectedly attacking style of football, but Spain – their opponents on Thursday – are unfazed, says manager Luis de la Fuente.

He made it clear his side are not preparing for a game of finesse, however, and are getting ready for something more akin to a pitched battle.

“We are prepared to get muddy, to dig deep in a quarry and for a day in the office. Ready for everything,” De la Fuente told a press conference on Wednesday.

“We know what kind of football they play and how competitive they are, so we won’t be surprised. I expect a strong, aggressive Italy who will try to control possession. It is the most important match in the group stage.”

– Reuters

Thursday’s match will be played at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, the home stadium for German club FC Schalke 04.

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