Argentina is on a roll, Italy needs new ‘blood’ and Giorgio Chiellini bowed for the last time in a blue shirt, after 117 games for the Azzuri. That would be the summary of tonight’s ‘Finalissima’, which was played for the third time only, between European champions Italy and Copa America winners Argentina, and the South Americans prevailed with ease, in a comfortable 3-0 win. In a game with a lot of tempo and some good chances, the Argentinians were clear winners after a better display and some great, clear goal chances. Italy should have done better, but the Azzuri are in a result crisis for some time now, they allowed themselves to be eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers and it’s obvious they need new blood.🏆 #Finalissima🔝 ¡ARGENTINA CAMPEÓN! 🤩🇦🇷 El equipo dirigido por @lioscaloni se queda con el trofeo internacional tras derrotar a #Italia por 3-0 (Martínez, Di María y Dybala). pic.twitter.com/FeOjoPwvYG— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) June 1, 2022 “All Argentines want to win in England” said keeper Emiliano Martínez ahead of this match and his teammates showed he was right. They fought hard and won, unlike the Italians, who also like Wembley, a place where they defeated England in EURO 2022 and became champions, but were just second best. Coach Roberto Manchini already announced the generation change, but still named 7 starters from the EURO 2022 finals into the starting 11 against Argentina. The front three, Federico Bernardeschi, Andrea Belotti and Giacomo Raspadori are where most of the changes were, while Marco Verratti was replaced in midfield by Matteo Pessina. Some injured players like Berardi and Chiesa were missing, while Argentina came in with a strongest possible squad, with only injured Paredes missing.Italy had a mild advantage in the opening 10 minutes, and even took the first shot on goal through Raspadori, but soon the Argentinians took over and never looked back. In the 28th minute it was 1-0, after a beautiful action led by Lionel Messi. He took Di Lorenzo out of the game with a simple drop of the shoulder, and passed the ball to Lautaro Martinez who scored from close range. And just as the injury time started, it was 2-0. A high ball out of defense came to Lautaro Martinez, who quickly pasted it to Di Maria, forcing Chiellini in a footrace with a former PSG winger. And that’s where you could see that Giorgio really needs to retire. The 37 years old defender tried to catch the 34 years old midfielder, but failed and it was 2-0.The second half was basically a story of Argentina’s misses and Messi’s magic. The PSG forward showed he still has it, had a couple of great moves and assists, but his teammates just couldn’t score the third goal, until the 90th minute. Di Maria and Lo Celso had their chances, but Donnarumma was there to save them until Paulo Dybala came in. As soon as that happened, it was 3-0, end of the game, a win for Argentina and not so happy retirement for Chiellini.CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions, FinalItaly – Argentina 0-3 (0-2)/Lautaro 28, Di Maria 45+1, Dybala 90+4/
