“Against Sweden we start with a noticeable gap in fitness,” Italy Under-21 coach Paolo Nicolato said to RaiSport microphones ahead of the Azzurrini’s match on Tuesday evening.

After beating Slovenia 2-1 in a friendly in Lignano Sabbiadoro, their first win of the season, the U21s get their quest for a place in the Euros back underway with a qualifier against their Swedish counterparts in Kalmar (18:30 CEST). “Traditionally, they like to run a lot,” Nicolato continued, “and the task will be much hard given that they’re already on matchday 18 of the league season. Meanwhile, we’ve just come back from our holiday. I think we’ll have to weather a storm, we hope do that as best we can.”

Paolo Nicolato has a group of 23 players at his disposal for the game in Sweden, on matchday 6 in Group 1. As it stands, Italy are second in the table with 13 points in five games (four wins and a draw, 15 goals scored and none conceded), just three points behind group leaders Ireland, who’ve played one game more.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Mattia Del Favero (Juventus), Alessandro Plizzari (Reggina);

Defenders: Claud Adjapong (Sassuolo), Davide Bettella (Atalanta), Nicolò Casale (Hellas Verona), Enrico Delprato (Atalanta), Matteo Gabbia (Milan), Luca Pellegrini (Juventus), Marco Sala (Sassuolo), Marco Varnier (Pisa);

Midfieldersi: Marco Carraro (Atalanta), Andrea Colpani (Monza), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), Giulio Maggiore (Spezia), Youssef Maleh (Venezia), Filippo Melegoni (Atalanta), Niccolò Zanellato (Crotone);

Forwards: Patrick Cutrone (Fiorentina), Sebastiano Esposito (Inter), Andrea Pinamonti (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Sassuolo), Riccardo Sottil (Fiorentina).