Three days on from the defeat to Argentina at Wembley, the Azzurri will host Germany in Bologna to kick off their UEFA Nations League campaign. In the last edition of the competition, Italy reached the Final Four - which was hosted in Turin and Milan - and finished third. Die Mannschaft come to the Stadio Dall’Ara in red-hot form as, having recovered from a painful elimination in the quarter-finals of the Euros, they cruised through World Cup qualifying and became the first team to reach the tournament in Qatar.

It is, therefore, a stern test for what promises to a new-look Italy side, with head coach Roberto Mancini hoping to mix up the personnel, though without losing the team’s identity. “We struggled with various absences against Argentina, which influenced the outcome of the game,” Mancini said in a press conference today. “They were better than us and look much fitter. It’s probably the first game in three-and-a-half years that we have been under so much pressure, even though we committed two errors leading to goals in the first half. We need time; players don’t just develop overnight and we know there are tough times ahead.” Also given that the Azzurri’s Nations League group pits them against two of the favourites for the World Cup in Germany and England: “They’re the two strongest teams right now. They have some great players and it would be a risk not to make changes. Should they turn out well, these games would herald a strong new beginning. We’ll need to defend as a unit and press hard. We’ve played this way for three years with players that didn’t seem suited to this style of football, but they were. We need to go again and bring back the magic from the Euros.”

Tomorrow in Bologna, on Tuesday in Cesena and for the trips to Germany and England, the Azzurri will be without various key players from that Euro-winning side. After Chiesa, Immobile, Verratti and Insigne, who missed on Wednesday’s Finalissima, Mancini will also have to make do without Chiellini, Jorginho, Emerson and Bernardeschi, who returned home yesterday alongside Sirigu. “They needed to rest and they weren’t fit enough to play four games. It would have only caused them problems down the road and they’ve given their all over the past two years, so they deserve the rest.” Lazzari and Zaccagni also left the camp: “I thought they were ok but they told me yesterday that they were feeling a few problems and so we let them leave.”

The new era of the Italy first team will, therefore, need to begin with youngsters, who are unfortunately finding minutes hard to come by with their clubs: “The guideline remains the same: finding players with quality and pace. They won’t be like Verratti and Jorginho, who were playing regular football; they’ll need a bit more time. If we can hand some minutes to these boys - who have never played for us - and get them integrated into the squad, then good. In March, we may see a few of the guys return, who haven’t been available to us this time around.”

Without Immobile in the squad and with Belotti going through a bit of a drought, the Azzurri again struggled to score against Argentina: “This is a concern. You need to score to win and for that, you need in-form strikers, which we don’t have in Italy right now. The only two are Belotti and Immobile; the only other one scoring in Serie A is Scamacca, who still hasn’t made his full international debut. The hope is that some of the guys in Serie B make the jump up to the top flight soon and start scoring.” After receiving praise from Germany boss Hans-Dieter Flick (“I rate him highly, he has the passion to repeat the success from the Euros”), Mancini still has the trust of those around him, even if there has been criticism of late: “In football, when you win everyone is with you, and when you lose, they’re almost all against you. That’s just how it is.”

The Azzurri are back in Bologna a year after the 4-0 win over Czechia in the final friendly before the Euros. Mancini thus returns for the third time as head coach to the city where his playing career began and the stadium where, over 40 years ago, he made his Serie A debut. Tomorrow’s opponents also caused Mancini to reminisce on matches past: “Italy vs. Germany is all about the final in 1982. I was young and on the 40-man shortlist to potentially make the final squad. Then there’s 2006, but my fondest memory is of ´82.”

Bryan Cristante was present alongside Mancini in the press hall. He is one of the members of the EURO 2020 squad and also added a Conference League title to his personal trophy cabinet last week: “I think that I’ve had a good season,” the Roma midfielder said. “Playing in the Euros gives you a lot of self-confidence, which helps you with your club. European games raise the bar, more so if you’re a developing player. We want to go again; these are tough games and we know that but we also know that we’re a good team. We always give maximum effort, we just need to rediscover that chemistry. We have a lot of time until the next big tournament. We’ll go again from the Nations League and we need to work hard to bring all that we do at Coverciano to the fore in games. That’s the only way we can get back to winning ways.”

Tomorrow against Germany, good intentions won’t be enough: “We’re really strong. We need to put in a big performance; that’s the only way to beat this kind of opposition.”