The current European champions Italy made some big changes in the squad, starting with the manager since their title in 2021. And the quality of their squad is debatable, since they are full of young, unexperienced players, some of which are not in the top 5 Italian clubs, but led by an ‘old wolf‘ Luciano Spalletti, they somehow found a way to overcome all dificulites and secure their ticket for next round: Italy – Croatia 1-1. The Italians had more chances and generally looked better but had to overcome the 1-0 deficit from the 55th minute when Real‘s Luka Modrić scored and became the oldest player in the history EURO to do so. And the current champion managed just that, but in an injury drama and with an 98th minute equalizer from Lazio‘s Mattia Zaccagni.This draw secured Italy‘s advance to the elimination phase, where they will face Switzerland, while Croats are all but finished. Modrić‘s team is still in the game, but only theoretically. For them to advance even with this draw, Serbia needs to lose to Denmark, England must defeat Slovenia by a three-goal margin, Turkey has to be better than the Czech Republic, and Portugal must beat Georgia. They have paid the price for their underperfomance in this tournament, as they were dismantled by Spain 3-0, and then failed to win in the next two games.When Susic forced Donnarumma to make a great save after a fantastic volley from 30 meters in the 5th minute of the game, it looked like it‘s gonna be a great game. But instead, the first 45 minutes were pretty much a dull afair, in which we saw only one really good chance. The Italians had the biggest chance of the match in the 27th minute, when Barella sent a perfect ball to the goal area where Bastoni‘s header was briiliantly tipped over by Croatia‘s keeper Livaković. The second half proved to be much more exciting. Italy was more concrete but when substitute Frattesi was hit by the ball in the penalty area, the referee gave penalty to the Croats after a VAR check. Real‘s veteran took a shot but Donnarumma saved it, only to concede the goal from the same players seconds after. A cross in from the right was headed at goal from Budimir. Donnarumma made another great save but Modric was there all alone to get the rebound and score the winner. Italy made some changes and finally started to push for the equalizer, but didn‘t have a concrete chance like the one Bastoni missed. All they did manage was a series of crosses into the goal area, but the tall Scamacca was on the bench and there was no-one to put the ball into the net. But then came in Zaccagni and scored with a beautiful shot in the last seconds of the game for a huge relief and joy on the Italian bench.Good news for both these teams came from Dusseldorf where Spain, who already secured the first place in Group B, made 10 changes but still defeated Albania 1-0, courtesy of the goal by Barcelona‘s Ferran Torres. This win also means that England has secured their place in the Round of 16.EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – GROUP STAGEMonday Albania – Spain 0-1 (0-1)/Torres 13/Croatia – Italy 1-1 0-0)/Modric 55 – Zaccagni 90+8/Tuesday 19.00: (2.30) Netherlands (3.45) Austria (3.30)19.00: (1.33) France (5.70) Poland (10.5)22.00: (1.42) England (4.70) Slovenia (9.00)22.00: (2.30) Denmark (3.45) Serbia (3.50)Wednesday 19.00: (3.30) Slovakia (2.05) Romania (3.85)19.00: (5.60) Ukraine (3.90) Belgium (1.70)22.00: (7.80) Georgia (5.20) Portugal (1.43)22.00: (2.65) Czech R. (3.40) Turkey (2.80)***odds are subject to change***
