The Italy squad had their last training session at Coverciano this morning, they did some final preparations on the Vittorio Pozzo pitch at the Federal Technical Centre on the eve of the match against England. In the afternoon, the Azzurri will travel to London and do a walk around Wembley Stadium where they were crowned Champions of Europe 26 months ago. Tomorrow evening at 20:45 CEST, it will host the Azzurri against England for the fifth time in two years. 

In the Nations League, Italy found a draw and a win, finishing top of the group and sending the English into the second division. But last March, it was Southgate’s side that complicated Italy’s path to Euro 2024 in the very first game in the group, beating the Azzurri 2-1 in Napoli. Tomorrow marks a new chapter between the two teams, the hosts are at the top of the group with 3 more points than Italy, much closer to qualification. Luciano Spalletti spoke to the FIGC in an exclusive interview for their social media channels: “This game will show us what point we’re at. We can’t just go after something easy because staying in your comfort zone kills all goals and dreams. You need to face situations that help you grow, to prepare you to play at a higher level. And this is the ideal game. AN international footballer will see this as the match for qualification, rather than later ones”.

Utmost respect for England with players like Kane, Bellingham and Foden, but no fear. The Coach continued: “We want to go there and play the game openly, we want to show that we have history, potential, and values. We will see who is better”. The preparations ahead of the match have been ideal: “The boys are serious people: they are fully committed and available, in the last 15 days they have shown me that they have the head to play games at this level. It’s said that the key to success is having faith in yourself, the key to having faith in yourself is being prepared. And the boys are ready, given how they’ve prepared”.

Missing in Bari, Giovanni Di Lorenzo could be back in the starting XI tomorrow at the stadium where he experienced the most joy with the Azzurri: “It is always beautiful to remember that game and that night, but we need to be good at putting that aside and facing what will certainly be a difficult game. We have worked really well and we are ready. Tomorrow we have a huge opportunity, if we win we will catch them up at the top of the table”.

GROUP C FIXTURES AND TABLE

17 October: England vs. Italy 
17 October: Malta vs. Ukraine
17 November: Italy vs. Nord Macedonia
17 November: England vs. Malta
20 November: Ukraine vs. Italy
20 November: Nord Macedonia vs. England

*Classifica: England 13 points (5), Italy (5) and Ukraine 10 (6), Nord Macedonia 7 (6), Malta 0 (6)

*games played between brackets