The Azzurri continue their march, beating Bulgaria 2-0 in a repeat of the scoreline from the win over Northern Ireland, and extending their unbeaten run to 24 consecutive matches (17 wins and 7 draws). Italy managed to win in Bulgaria at the seventh attempt, bringing home three precious points and thus continuing the path towards qualification for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. On Wednesday, the team faces Lithuania in Vilnius in the third and final match of this international window. If in Parma Ciro Immobile celebrated his return to scoring after a long goal drought, in Sofia Andrea Belotti took care of unlocking the game, winning and converting the penalty to make it 1-0 at the end of a first-half that was anything but exciting. In the second half, the man who is nicknamed the Rooster came close to doubling the lead when he hit the post, before Manuel Locatelli came on near the end of the game and scored his first national team goal, guaranteeing himself a night he will never forget.

MATCH REPORT. Mancini made six changes to the team that beat Northern Ireland, two per department: The injured Chiellini missed out, as Acerbi joined Bonucci in the centre of defence, with Florenzi keeping his place on the right and Spinazzola brought in in place of Emerson Palmieri on the left. Alongside Verratti in midfield, there was space for Inter players Barella and Sensi, the latter being preferred to Locatelli in the starting line-up. In an attacking trio, Belotti and Chiesa were called upon to hopefully not regret benching the match winners from the game with Northern Ireland, Immobile and Berardi. Alongside them was Insigne, who has reached his 40th appearance with the national team.

Our main rival in the race for first place in the group, Switzerland, took only 13 minutes to put three goals past Petrov's team and seal victory last Thursday in Sofia. The Azzurri didn't have life that easy. In fact, Bulgaria seemed to have learned their lesson, defending compactly with ten men in their own half, relying mainly on long balls to Galabinov, the Spezia striker who had the arduous task of carrying his team with his back to goal. Preferring, as always, to build play from the back and avoid the hosts’ pressure, Italy struggled to reach the opposition penalty area in the first half an hour. In the 6th minute, Chiesa was challenged as he was lining up to shoot, then Spinazzola set up Belotti in the area, who committed a foul in an attempt to get on the ball. Spinazzola's one-on-one skills and Insigne and Chiesa's sudden ability to change a game looked like Italy’s two most dangerous weapons as they continuously came up against a Bulgarian wall. Andrea Belotti took care of the breakthrough, who won a penalty in the 43rd minute after a foul by Dimov and, in the absence of the specialist Jorginho, took the penalty himself and slotted the ball into the corner where Iliev could not reach. It was the Rooster’s 11th goal for the national team (his 10th away from home), bringing him level with Ciro Immobile.

Despite their disadvantage, Bulgaria preferred not to venture forward, as it was too risky to give the Azzurri field and space. In the 55th minute, the hosts protested for a handball in the box by Sensi, shortly followed by an Italian penalty claim for a foul by Antov on Belotti. In both instances, the Slovenian referee Vincic signalled play on. More than a doubt remained. Halfway through the second half, a double substitution for Mancini: Florenzi and Sensi depart, replaced by Di Lorenzo and Locatelli. Belotti came close to doubling the lead in the 71st minute: A Veratti free-kick finds the Rooster, who beat Iliev with a lob but unluckily hit the post before kicking to the heavens on the rebound. In the last quarter of an hour, Immobile and Bernardeschi came on for Belotti and Chiesa. The knockout blow came thanks to Manuel Locatelli, who scored his first Azzurri goal with a splendid right-footed shot that curled inside the post to round off a good move which Veratti and Insigne were at the heart of. Bonucci set up Immobile with a good ball in an effort to make it 3-0, but the Lazio striker kicked it straight at Iliev, only to be put through again shortly after, but our Golden Boot winner’s shot was palmed over the crossbar. No harm done. On Wednesday in Vilnius, Italy will go in search of their third victory in the first three matches of the World Cup qualifiers, before the European Championship takes centre stage in June.

 

Squad List

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Torino);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Emerson Palmieri (Chelsea), Gian Marco Ferrari (Sassuolo), Alessandro Florenzi (Paris Saint Germain), Manuel Lazzari (Lazio), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina), Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo), Rolando Mandragora (Torino), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Matteo Ricci (Spezia), Stefano Sensi (Inter), Roberto Soriano (Bologna), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain);
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Vincenzo Grifo (Friburgo), Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli).

Schedule

(all times are CET unless otherwise specified)

Monday 29 March

11:30 – Training (Closed to the press)

Tuesday 30 March

10:45 – Departure from Sofia for Vilnius

16:30 – Lithuania press conference* (LFF Stadium/Vilnius)

17:00 – Lithuania training (first 15 minutes open to the press) (LFF Stadium/Vilnius)

17:30 – ITALY press conference (LFF Stadium/Vilnius)

18:00 – ITALY training (first 15 minutes open to the press) (LFF Stadium/Vilnius)

Wednesday 31 March

21:45 – Lithuania vs ITALY (LFF Stadium/Vilnius). Followed by a press conference and return home.

*Access to the press conference room will be limited to a small number of the media. The pictures will be visible on the stadium monitors