Upon entering the Olympiastadion in Berlin, all eyes turned to the net to the right of the pitch. Gigi Buffon headed towards the very spot where, on 9 July 2006, penalties were taken to win the World Cup. For Luciano Spalletti and his side, on the other hand, it was the words from the Head of the Delegation that had them reliving that night. To dream of a return to Berlin on 14 July, Italy will have to beat Switzerland in the EURO 2024 round of 16 clash on Saturday at 18:00 CEST. Both sides had their fates changed in the final moments of their matchday 3 clashes. Switzerland conceded a last-gasp goal to Germany, making it 1-1 and sending Murat Yakin’s side into second place. Meanwhile, Spalletti’s side secured their second-place finish and spot in the round of 16 with Mattia Zaccagni’s 98th-minute goal against Croatia.

A goal that the Azzurri Head Coach hopes represents a turning point. Speaking in the press conference: “Starting from tomorrow, we have to do better than we have done so far. We had to go out and secure qualification, we have a difficult group and the players felt it just like me, but seeing the madness after Zaccagni’s goal went in is something that will stick with us. We had to go through: now I expect the players to have loosened up, we are focused on the knockout clash. You cannot assess your options: you have to act because you only go through by winning the next game and to win we have to act in this way”.

The dish for the title defence is served: “We cannot have those drops in rhythm at the start of both halves as we did against Spain and Croatia. Being in the throes of the competition means you have to constantly perform at a certain level. I’m expecting something else, because, I repeat: we have not yet been at our best. Qualification came at the final second, but we deserve it for how it was hunted down”.

In terms of line-up, Riccardo Calafiori is suspended with Spalletti deploying Gianluca Mancini in his place. Federico Dimarco will not be there either. The final hours on the eve of the game will be decisive for Alessandro Bastoni who was running a slight fever yesterday. In attack: “both Scamacca and Retegui will play at some point during the game”, Spalletti explained his offensive choices. “I think it’s clear what kind of player we have in Scamacca. He can score at any moment: he has that skill, as well as a powerful shot that is hard to stop. Though he has a harder time at integrating into the side’s play”.

An error from the spot proved decisive for World Cup qualification in 2022, against Switzerland (“The penalty takers show up when necessary, we have to win the game”). On the other hand, 18 years ago, it was Grosso’s penalty that took Italy to the top of the world. “Everyone remembers that moment here in Berlin. We had Gigi Buffon on the bus with us and he spoke about it to all of us, he had us reliving that emotion that we all experienced at home. We know that we have to honour this memory, it’s a big responsibility, just as it is a responsibility to know that we have fans all over the world. Even if we were in smaller numbers in the grounds against Albania and Croatia, we knew we had many fans sat there cheering us on in front of the TV, we felt it”.

DONNARUMMA. Spalletti is joined in the press conference by Gianluigi Donnarumma, sharing a name with Buffon and taking on his legacy. "Gigi spoke to us about what happened here in 2006, emotions are high. Tomorrow is a big game in a big tournament, we have to be ready, positive, have the right mentality and give 100%. We will be ready”. Like Spalletti, Donnarumma spoke on the opening games: "We need to refine some things that perhaps could have been done better in the group stage, but now we have more of an awareness. We had a difficult group and everyone thought we were done for: we gave it our all and made it through, this is extra motivation. When you get to the round of 16, you want to go all the way: there is much adrenaline and many emotions, but we need to keep our heads. We know that we have 60 million Italians behind us spurring us on, this will be important tomorrow”.

The opposition is skilful and dangerous, starting right from their goalkeeper, Yann Sommer. “I hope that he will do much less tomorrow than he has done this season in with Inter in Serie A”. Sommer is also known for saving penalties, just like Donnarumma. After the group stage, starting from the round of 16, games can be decided from the spot, think of how Italy won the semi-final and final at Wembley and more recently, Donnarumma already saving a Modric penalty in the current tournament. He jokes: “I let my teammates score to boost their egos”. “We have all practised taking penalties because maybe substitutions are made. I’ve trained for different situations. With respect to three years ago, I feel more responsible, I am a different man and I have grown a lot by playing abroad. I am one of the older players in the group and I wear the captain’s armband, it’s an indescribable feeling. I am happy because when I was a child, I dreamed of playing games and competitions like these”. That 7-year old child watched Buffon become a world champion right here in Berlin. This is a huge, extra source of motivation, to get back here in two weeks' time.